With the Iowa caucuses less than a month away, it seems a new poll is released every day. The media can't wait to tell us what we collectively think. It's a much easier story to do than to actually delve into the issues, but that's a topic for another day.
National interest in state legislative races is growing and, consequently, polls are being used more in those races. An interesting story in today's The New York Times, "Cellphones Challenge Poll Sampling," says 16 percent of America's households are cell phone only, up from just 3 percent in 2003.
The rules are different for calling cell phones for poll purposes, the story says, and there are some other ethical, financial and even safety questions that the practice raises.
Since certain populations are more likely to live in land-line free homes, there is some concern on how accurate polling data based on land-line-only calls are. Researchers say the scientific validity of polls are safe for now, but are aware that this could change if the number of homes with cell phones only grows.
The reason most state legislative candidates don't use polls is due to the cost. If pollsters have to start adjusting for land-line-free homes, the cost is likely to go up.
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