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Rasmussen Reports

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Not to be confused with Rasmussen Report.

Rasmussen Reports is an American public opinion polling firm. Founded by pollster Scott Rasmussen, co-founder of ESPN, the company updates its President's job approval rating daily other indexes, and provides public opinion data, analysis, and commentary, along with coverage of business, economic, and lifestyle issues.

History of Rasmussen Reports

In 1995, Scott Rasmussen founded a polling company called GrassRoots Research. In 1999, his company Rasmussen Research was bought by TownPagesNet.com for about $4.5 million in ordinary shares.[1]

As of 2009, Scott Rasmussen is the Publisher of Rasmussen Reports (based in Asbury Park NJ[2] and founded in 2003) and describes himself as having been an independent public opinion pollster for more than a decade.[3] In addition to political polling, Rasmussen provides public opinion data, analysis, and commentary, along with coverage of business, economic, and lifestyle issues. He has been called “one of America’s most innovative pollsters” by commentator Michael Barone.[citation needed]

Rasmussen Reports polls are notable for their use of automated public opinion polling, involving pre-recorded telephone inquiries.[4] These types of polls have been shown[citation needed] to produce accurate results at low cost, although some traditional pollsters are skeptical of this methodology and prefer traditional, operator-assisted polling techniques.[5] Polls by Rasmussen Reports are cited regularly by most major news sources, and as a guest analyst Rasmussen has appeared on a number of news broadcasts, including the Fox News Channel, the BBC, CNN, NPR, and CNBC.

A Fordham University analysis ranked Rasmussen Reports as the most accurate national polling firm in Election 2008.[6] The Fordham analysis is a preliminary analysis based on projected vote totals. The final vote margin of victory was 7.2 points compared to the 6.15 used in the Fordham analysis.[7][8]

Reports by Slate Magazine and The Wall Street Journal found that Rasmussen Reports was one of the most accurate polling firms for the 2004 United States presidential election and 2006 United States general elections.[9][10]

Rasmussen Reports conducted the polls featured on the CBS game show Power of 10.

Criticism

Democratic Party activists have pointed out that Scott Rasmussen was a paid consultant for the 2004 George W. Bush campaign.[11] Rasmussen presidential polling numbers tend to be an outlier among samples taken from other polling organizations.[12] Others have pointed out that the reason Rasmussen's polls trend more Republican than other mainstream polls is simply that he samples likely voters.[13] John Marshal of Talking Points Memo has said, "The toplines tend to be a bit toward the Republican side of the spectrum, compared to the average of other polls. But if you factor that in they're pretty reliable. And the frequency that Rasmussen is able to turn them around — because they're based on robocalls — gives them added value in terms of teasing out trends."[14] MSNBC does not use Rasmussen polls.[15] Conversely, conservative media frequently refers to Rasmussen, praising them for being the first to ask about a relevant issue or to ask questions that other polsters do not.[16][17]

References

  1. ^ Securities and Exchange Commission, Form 6-K, December 1999
  2. ^ http://www.asburypark.net/
  3. ^ "About Us", Rasmussen Reports (accessed September 7, 2008)
  4. ^ Rasmussen Reports: The most comprehensive public opinion coverage ever provided for a mid-term election
  5. ^ The Pros and Cons of Auto-Dialed Surveys - The Fix
  6. ^ http://www.fordham.edu/images/academics/graduate_schools/gsas/elections_and_campaign_/poll%20accuracy%20in%20the%202008%20presidential%20election.pdf
  7. ^ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_2008
  8. ^ http://www.fordham.edu/images/academics/graduate_schools/gsas/elections_and_campaign_/poll%20accuracy%20in%20the%202008%20presidential%20election.pdf
  9. ^ David Kenner and William Saletan, Let's Go to the Audiotape, Slate, December 9, 2004
  10. ^ Bialik, Carl (2006-11-16). "Grading the Pollsters". The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones. Retrieved 2007-11-01. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  11. ^ Campaign Consultants, [1], Center For Public Integrity, 2003-2004
  12. ^ President Obama Job Approval, [2], RealClearPolitics
  13. ^ http://realclearpolitics.blogs.time.com/2009/07/24/obama-upside-down/
  14. ^ Dangerous Brew, [3], Talking Points Memo
  15. ^ Why MSNBC doesn't use Rasmussen, [4], Media Matters Blog
  16. ^ Rasmussen: 40% of likely GOP voters say Palin hurt her chances, [5], Ed Morrisey, Hotair.com
  17. ^ Rasmussen Polling On The Issues: What A Difference A Year Makes!, [6] Right Wing News.com


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