As a follow-up to the queries made of representatives of Gallup, the Pew Research Center and Time/SRBI, MP followed up with similar requests of other public polling organizations that do not typically release results for party identification to explain their policy. Here is response from John Gorman, president of Opinion Dynamics, the company that conducts the Fox News Poll:
Frankly, we have always treated party as a crosstab variable and not as something interesting in itself. It varies a little bit from survey to survey, but the short-term shifts have never been that interesting. We have received requests for the answers from time to time and have supplied them. More often we receive requests for a particular question broken down by party and we normally supply that to whomever asks.
As you know, we don’t weight by party and as I understand what he is saying from your email, I generally agree with Frank Newport. (I’ll wait to see his AAPOR paper before endorsing his position 100%.)
I’ve discussed your inquiry with Dana Blanton at Fox News Channel in New York and we see no problem with adding the party breakdown to the standard poll releases.
[Emphasis and links added]
Thank you John Gorman.
Fox News typically links to its most recent poll and a methodology statement from the top menu of its main web page (click on Opinion / Fox News Polls).
MP has already heard from about a half dozen other pollsters and will post their comments in the order received over the next week or so. For some guidance on what to make of data on party identification, those new to this subject may wish to consult yesterday’s post as well as MP’s FAQ on weighting by party ID.
Adjusting polls for party identification
There has been some discussion about adjusting public opinion polls for party identification (for example, see this page by Alan Reifman, which I found in a Google search). Apparently there has been some controversy over the idea as it was…