In 1936, pollsters at the Literary Digest were guilty of ________ when they mistakenly predicted a presidential victory for Alf Landon over Franklin Roosevelt by polling people whose names came from the telephone book and automobile registration records.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The Literary Digest pollsters were guilty of selection bias because they only polled people whose names came from the telephone book and automobile registration records, rather than using a random sample. This created a bias in their sample and led to an incorrect prediction.

In 1936, Pollsters at the Literary Digest Were Guilty of ________