{"id":11972,"date":"2017-05-12T10:00:42","date_gmt":"2017-05-12T15:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/%year%\/%monthnum%\/%day%\/methods-101-random-sampling\/"},"modified":"2024-04-14T03:16:28","modified_gmt":"2024-04-14T08:16:28","slug":"methods-101-random-sampling","status":"publish","type":"short-read","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2017\/05\/12\/methods-101-random-sampling\/","title":{"rendered":"How can a survey of 1,000 people tell you what the whole U.S. thinks?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Methods 101: Random Sampling\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/sonXfzE1hvo?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\">Here at Pew Research Center, we are often asked about how we conduct our research. We work hard to make our methodologies <a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/methods\/\">transparent and understandable<\/a>, but we also know that survey mode effects and data weighting aren\u2019t on everyone\u2019s short list of water-cooler conversation topics.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That\u2019s why we\u2019re launching <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/playlist?list=PLZ9z-Af5ISavJpPlvdMU4T-etIDOUmldk\"><em>Methods 101<\/em><\/a>, a new occasional video series dedicated to explaining and educating the public about the basic methods we use to conduct our survey research. We hope this effort will make survey methods more accessible, even if you\u2019re not a statistician or pollster. We also hope it will help give our audience the confidence to be savvy consumers of all polls.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Our first video is about random sampling, a concept that undergirds all probability-based survey research. The video explains what it means and why it\u2019s important. We hope you\u2019ll find it useful.<\/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\"><a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2018\/03\/21\/how-do-you-write-survey-questions-that-accurately-measure-public-opinion\/\"><strong>How do you write survey questions that accurately measure public opinion?<\/strong><\/a><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2018\/08\/06\/what-are-nonprobability-surveys\/\"><strong>What are nonprobability surveys?<\/strong><\/a><\/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>The first video in our &#8220;Methods 101&#8221; series is about random sampling, a concept that undergirds all probability-based survey research. 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