How the Los Angeles Times Poll Conducts a Survey

When we do a California telephone survey, the Los Angeles Times Poll makes calls to a random sample of all phone numbers in the state. This technique is called "random-digit dialing" and is the best method for producing good predictive samples in a poll. Because of this, the people who answer our questions are in very similar proportions to that of the adult population of the state. For example, if 28% of the state's adult population is Latino, then our sample will have close to that proportion of Latinos. We look at several variables such as race, age, educational attainment and location of the household and use weights to make sure those proportions conform with data from the Census Bureau about California's adult population.

By Jill Darling Richardson

August 24, 2003