Why are internal polls considered more accurate than independent polls?

[Frank Booth]

This seems to be an accepted premise, but I've never understood why. I've looked on Google for answers but can't find any. If someone with knowledge of polling could explain, I'd appreciate it. Thanks.

[gear_head]

1. when somebody is paying for something, they get the truth

the person paying the bill for the poll, gets the truth.

persons not paying the bill,
for example, the public,
get whatever somebody wants somebody else to think

[Frank Booth]

2. But newspapers pay for an estimate of the truth.

Why is it more accurate if a political campaign pays for it?

[OzarkDem]

7. Because the political campaign wants the truth

to guide them in making decisions about the campaign. The polls are for internal use only, and most campaigns don't usually reveal the results to the public, in case they are not favorable. It doesn't help them to look at misleading information.

Paying for your own internal polling allows you to oversee how the poll is worded and conducted, how the samples are chosen, etc.

Depending on the media outlet, some external polls can be rigged (over and under sampling, misleading questions, etc.) to promote a candidate that they're backing or promoting.

[Candido77]

3. I've never heard anyone say that

That the internal polls are more accurate than independent ones.

[thesubstanceofdreams]

4. I hear that internal polls have larger sample sizes

and they are done more carefully. Essentially, the campaigns pay a lot more money for them than the media for theirs. More money = better polls. The media doesn't really need accurate polls, the campaigns do.

[TAWS]

5. Internals are not more accurate per se, they just poll a specific subset of the population

that ordinary polls do not usually cover. Like district, whether an ad is working, etc. A campaign does not spend money on internal polls for data that they could get from like Zogby, gallup, etc.

[ORDem]

6. This sounds right to me. They want information on specific demographis, so

there is probably a lot more screening, which means more calls, etc., more cost. Public polls are usually funded by the media or the polling company itself. Infotainment is not interested much in accuracy.

:dem:

[OzarkDem]

8. Bingo

Glad someone asked this question. Its a good learning opportunity for those here who are new to the campaign process.

Also, as information, journalists used to have certain standards for publishing poll results, usually requiring a poll have a margin of error of at least 3 or 3.5, IIRC. Back in the day, news outlets wouldn't use polls that had MOE's of 4% or more. That standard has kind of fallen by the wayside, though at least most of them still provide the MOE information. The public just isn't always aware of the standard.

[Frank Booth]

9. Thanks for the responses.

Larger sample size, more clearly worded and less biased questioning, more specific targeting of likely voters. All of these would make a difference.