{"id":11296,"date":"2018-08-06T10:02:12","date_gmt":"2018-08-06T15:02:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/%year%\/%monthnum%\/%day%\/what-are-nonprobability-surveys\/"},"modified":"2024-04-14T03:15:26","modified_gmt":"2024-04-14T08:15:26","slug":"what-are-nonprobability-surveys","status":"publish","type":"short-read","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2018\/08\/06\/what-are-nonprobability-surveys\/","title":{"rendered":"What are nonprobability surveys?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To accurately measure public opinion, pollsters need samples that are representative of a larger population. Researchers often do this by drawing random samples from lists of all telephone numbers or mailing addresses, but it\u2019s much more challenging when they want to conduct surveys online. That\u2019s because there\u2019s no master list of all email addresses for the entire population.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><!--more--><\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Methods 101: What are nonprobability surveys?\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/T9dmq6Lwh24?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div><\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While some organizations (<a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/methodology\/u-s-survey-research\/american-trends-panel\/\">including Pew Research Center<\/a>) use traditional offline methods like telephone or postal mail to collect email addresses from a random sample of the public, many online surveys are conducted using \u201cnonprobability\u201d or \u201copt-in\u201d samples. These polls are generally easier and cheaper for polling organizations to conduct, but questions about their accuracy remain.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In this video explainer \u2013 the latest in our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/playlist?list=PLZ9z-Af5ISavJpPlvdMU4T-etIDOUmldk\">Methods 101 series<\/a> \u2013 we explore some of the features of nonprobability surveys and how they differ from traditional probability-based polls. To find out more about these kinds of polls, you can read two evaluations we conducted, <a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/2016\/05\/02\/evaluating-online-nonprobability-surveys\/\">one in 2016<\/a>\u00a0(summarized in <a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2016\/05\/02\/q-a-online-nonprobability-polls\/\">this Q&amp;A<\/a>) and <a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/2018\/01\/26\/for-weighting-online-opt-in-samples-what-matters-most\/\">another in 2018<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-style-callout has-ui-beige-very-light-background-color has-background is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\"><h4 id=\"watch-our-other-methods-101-videos\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Watch our other Methods 101 videos:<\/h4><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2017\/05\/12\/methods-101-random-sampling\/\">How can a survey of 1,000 people tell you what the whole U.S. thinks?<\/a><\/strong><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2018\/03\/21\/how-do-you-write-survey-questions-that-accurately-measure-public-opinion\/\">How do you write survey questions that accurately measure public opinion?<\/a><\/strong><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2019\/02\/07\/phone-vs-online-surveys-why-do-respondents-answers-sometimes-differ-by-mode\/\"><strong>Phone vs. online surveys: Why do respondents\u2019 answers sometimes differ by mode?<\/strong><\/a><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2019\/07\/16\/how-is-polling-done-around-the-world\/\">How is polling done around the world?<\/a><\/strong><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2020\/06\/04\/what-is-machine-learning-and-how-does-it-work\/\"><strong>What is machine learning, and how does it work?<\/strong><\/a><\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Many online surveys are conducted using \u201cnonprobability\u201d or \u201copt-in\u201d samples, which are generally easier and cheaper to conduct. In our latest Methods 101 video, we explore some of the features of nonprobability surveys and how they differ from traditional probability-based polls.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":370,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"sub_headline":"","sub_title":"","_prc_public_revisions":[],"_ppp_expiration_hours":0,"_ppp_enabled":false,"ai_generated_summary":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"relatedPosts":[],"_prc_fork_parent":0,"_prc_fork_status":"","_prc_active_fork":0,"datacite_doi":"","datacite_doi_citation":"","_prc_seo_qr_attachment_id":0,"spoken_article_player_enabled":true,"displayBylines":true,"footnotes":"","prc_watchers":[]},"categories":[36,359],"bylines":[631],"collection":[],"datasets":[],"_post_visibility":[],"formats":[467],"_fund_pool":[],"languages":[],"regions-countries":[515],"research-teams":[528],"workflow-status":[],"class_list":["post-11296","short-read","type-short-read","status-publish","hentry","category-methodological-research","category-nonprobability-surveys","bylines-courtney-kennedy","formats-short-read","regions-countries-united-states","research-teams-methods"],"label":"Short Read","post_parent":0,"word_count":228,"canonical_url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2018\/08\/06\/what-are-nonprobability-surveys\/","art_direction":{"A1":{"id":21613,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2018\/08\/Methods101.3-Thumbnail-640x320.png","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2018\/08\/Methods101.3-Thumbnail-640x320.png?w=564&h=317&crop=1","width":564,"height":317,"chartArt":false},"A2":{"id":21613,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2018\/08\/Methods101.3-Thumbnail-640x320.png","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2018\/08\/Methods101.3-Thumbnail-640x320.png?w=268&h=151&crop=1","width":268,"height":151,"chartArt":false},"A3":{"id":21613,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2018\/08\/Methods101.3-Thumbnail-640x320.png","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2018\/08\/Methods101.3-Thumbnail-640x320.png?w=194&h=110&crop=1","width":194,"height":110,"chartArt":false},"A4":{"id":21613,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2018\/08\/Methods101.3-Thumbnail-640x320.png","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2018\/08\/Methods101.3-Thumbnail-640x320.png?w=268&h=151&crop=1","width":268,"height":151,"chartArt":false},"XL":{"id":21613,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2018\/08\/Methods101.3-Thumbnail-640x320.png","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2018\/08\/Methods101.3-Thumbnail-640x320.png?w=640&h=320&crop=1","width":640,"height":320,"chartArt":false},"social":{"id":21613,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2018\/08\/Methods101.3-Thumbnail-640x320.png","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2018\/08\/Methods101.3-Thumbnail-640x320.png?w=640&h=320&crop=1","width":640,"height":320,"chartArt":false}},"_embeds":[],"watchers":[],"table_of_contents":[],"datacite_doi":"","prc_seo_data":{"title":"What are nonprobability surveys?","description":"In our latest Methods 101 video, we explore some of the features of nonprobability or \"opt-in\" surveys and how they differ from traditional probability-based polls.","og_title":"What are nonprobability surveys?","og_description":"Many online surveys are conducted using \u201cnonprobability\u201d or \u201copt-in\u201d samples, which are generally easier and cheaper to conduct. 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