Polling organisations that went quiet

[Deleted]

Looking back through this sub-board, I notice we've heard nothing from TNS-BMRB since July, and nothing from Angus Reid since April last year. Does anyone know why this is, or have they simply slipped out of view without anyone knowing why or even noticing - even amongst the likes of us?

The most famous polling organisation that stopped doing polls in the UK is probably Gallup. Their decline was rather strange. They were and remain our original and sole source of historical polling data for the early years of polling and were usually reasonably accurate, although from 1987 onwards they tended to overestimate Labour support. The 2001 general election campaign was the last we heard from them here. They continue to operate in the USA, but were woefully inaccurate in predicting the 2012 presidential election. How could such a well-established organisation lose its way so catastophically?

Other polling organisations that used to be prominent in the UK include Marplan, Harris and Rasmussen, ORC (Opinion Research Corporation) and ASL (Audience Selection Limited). Some of these still operate abroad, others seem to have disappeared without trace.

[observer]

Any unemployed or retired people on here could get together and do their own polls - and do them well

[Tony Otim]

Oct 21, 2014 19:00:22 GMT observer said:

Any unemployed or retired people on here could get together and do their own polls - and do them well

Hmmm - certainly some could, but there's others, well, the less said the better

[Arthur Figgis]

You mean those who clearly inhale some odd fumes on the West Welsh coast?

[neilm]

What happened to Mori? Bob Worcester always used to be on the telly.

And Mass Observation? From what I've seen, that archive must be fascinating.

[The Bishop]

TNS/BMRB have been intermittent since late last year - though I expect they will still do polling in the run up to the election.

(unlike Angus Reid, who seem to have given up on GB surveys entirely)

MORI, of course, still live on as Ipsos-Mori.

Surprised that nobody has mentioned NOP yet - they still exist but have apparently abandoned political research (despite, inter alia, coming closest to the result with their eve of poll prediction in the 2005 GE) There was also NMR, who had a brief rather undistinguished spell in the early 1990s.

[maxque]

Angus Reid still do polls in Canada, but no one listens to them, as they are usually widely off the mark.

[john07]

Oct 22, 2014 13:51:55 GMT @trident said:

Oct 22, 2014 10:25:20 GMT maxque said:

Angus Reid still do polls in Canada, but no one listens to them, as they are usually widely off the mark.

Aren't polls generally off the mark in Canada, regardless of who does them?

But Angus Reid's efforts in the US have been bad also.

[Richard Allen]

Oct 21, 2014 23:09:51 GMT neilm said:

What happened to Mori? Bob Worcester always used to be on the telly.

I think Bob Worcester retired when MORI were bought by IPSOS. He was getting on then so I would guess that he is in his 80s now.

[mrhell]

Bob Worcester was a speaker at a Lib Dem conference fringe event and looked on the ball still.

[maxque]

Oct 22, 2014 13:51:55 GMT @trident said:

Oct 22, 2014 10:25:20 GMT maxque said:

Angus Reid still do polls in Canada, but no one listens to them, as they are usually widely off the mark.

Aren't polls generally off the mark in Canada, regardless of who does them?

Yes, but they are worse than most.

[Deleted]

Oct 21, 2014 19:00:22 GMT observer said:

Any unemployed or retired people on here could get together and do their own polls - and do them well

Don't tempt me.

[Crimson King]

I fondly recall the PPP (pimpernal polling panel, or was it the pimpernal personal pub polling panel?)

[The Bishop]

IIRC its "findings" would suggest the latter

[Pimpernal]

Hah - the PPP was deadly accurate...

Nov 2, 2014 14:31:21 GMT Richard Allen said:

A few more significant polls over the weekend, all from PPP who are one of the most reliable pollsters around.

[johnloony]

Nov 2, 2014 9:01:41 GMT Crimson King said:

I fondly recall the PPP (pimpernal polling panel, or was it the pimpernal personal pub polling panel?)

Akistan Eople's Arty?

[Robert Waller]

Oct 22, 2014 17:52:23 GMT Richard Allen said:

Oct 21, 2014 23:09:51 GMT neilm said:

What happened to Mori? Bob Worcester always used to be on the telly.

I think Bob Worcester retired when MORI were bought by IPSOS. He was getting on then so I would guess that he is in his 80s now.

I think Sir Bob (and he is a real Sir Bob with a proper knighthood, even if he was originally from Kansas City, unlike that eejit with an honorary) was born around Christmas 1933, so he'll be exactly 80.
As far as Harris is concerned, I can shed some light. I joined them from my university career in 1986, and got on fine when they were ultimately owned by Lou Harris (who was always banging on about being JFK's pollster) but not long after the 1992 debacle Harris was sold to Sofres, whose boss Pierre Weil was a piece of work, then the chairman, a nice man, John Hanvey (who advised me to try anything once except for incest and folk dancing) died fairly suddenly in 1993, and I left in 1994. Polling did not last long after that. I suppose it could also be argued that I finished 'em off. But the rest of the board departed soon after me, so there may have been something else going on.

[Deleted]

We don't appear to have heard anything from Populus - certainly in terms of voting intention - since the general election.

[Ben Walker]

We've had 29 (I think) VIs since 7th May. In 2010, from 6th May to 17th November we had 116.

There were 21 from the days following the 1987 GE to mid-November. A very poor showing from our pollsters when we have polls coming at a rate comparable to the 1980s.

[greatkingrat]

To be honest half a dozen pollsters doing one poll a month is enough at this stage in the electoral cycle. I think 2010 was the exception rather than the norm, because of the novelty of a coalition and the possibility it could collapse and force a snap election.