Methodology for Fusion's 2016 Issues Poll

Fusion’s 2016 Issues Poll, produced by Langer Research Associates, makes use of the SSRS Omnibus survey, a national, random-digit-dialed telephone survey conducted by SSRS of Media, Pa.

Each SSRS Omnibus consists of 1,000 random-sample telephone interviews, 500 conducted via cell phone and 500 via landline phone, with a minimum of 35 interviews in Spanish. Fusion’s 2016 Issues Poll questions are asked only of adults age 18 to 35, in four such surveys during a two-week period.

Omnibus calls customarily are made each Wednesday through Sunday to a fully replicated, stratified, single-stage, RDD sample of landline telephone households and randomly generated cell phone numbers designed to represent the adult population of the United States. Phone numbers receive six call attempts over a 10-day period, with a rolling-cross section design that allows sample to remain active for multiple 5-day waves.

Within each landline household, interviewers ask to speak with the youngest adult male or female at home; if no person of that gender is at home, interviewers ask to speak with the youngest adult of the other gender. Cell phone interviews are conducted with the adult answering the phone.

The data are weighted via a multistage process, first correcting for unequal probabilities of selection depending on the number of adults in the household and the nature of telephone service in use, then applying a post-stratification adjustment to correct for systematic nonresponse using known demographic parameters. The sample undergoes iterative proportional fitting (“raking”) to match the most recent March Supplement of the U.S. Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey by age (by gender), education, race/ethnicity, marital status and Census region (by gender). Respondents’ telephone status (cell-phone only, landline only or mixed user) is included, based on the most recent estimates available from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control’s National Health Interview Survey.

The SSRS Omnibus is used by a wide range of business, media, academic and foundation clients, including researchers from more than a dozen universities; organizations such as the Kaiser Family Foundation, the National Alliance for Hispanic Health and the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation; and media outlets including The New York Times, CBS News and ABC News.

For further information, see http://ssrs.com/research/ssrs-omnibus/.

Here is the full analysis from Langer Research Associates of the Fusion 2016 Issues Poll on emotional responses to candidates.

Here are the questions and overall results from the Fusion 2016 Issues Poll on the American Dream (Dec. 1, 2015):