YouGov
|
|
YouGov is a British Internet-based opinion pollster.
Its methodology is to obtain responses from an invited group of internet users and then to filter these responses in line with demographic information. YouGov was launched in 2000. In contrast with some Internet polls, which employ self-selecting samples, YouGov has built up a panel of more than 75,000 people throughout Great Britain. It draws demographically-representative samples from this panel for each poll. As YouGov's online methods require no fieldforce, its costs are lower than competitors that employ traditional face-to-face or telephone methods. YouGov has exploited its competitive advantage to conduct more polls for newspapers and television programmes than any other organisation. Its media clients include the Daily Telegraph, Sunday Times, Mail on Sunday, The Economist, ITV News, Channel Four News and Sky News.
Critics argue that, as around 40% of the public do not have access to the Internet, its samples cannot accurately reflect the views of the population as a whole. YouGov has contended that its opinion polls in recent UK elections, e.g. the 2001 election, have been consistently more accurate than traditional opinion pollsters who heavily, and repeatedly, underestimated the Conservative vote.
In the 2005 general election, YouGov's final survey for the Daily Telegraph (Labour 37%, Conservative 32%, Liberal Democrat 24%) was very close to the actual result (36% / 33% / 23%). Indeed every figure in its nine surveys conducted during the three weeks prior to the 5 May polling day was within two points of the final vote - a record for consistent accuracy unmatched by any other polling company.
External links
- YouGov (http://www.yougov.com)