Quinnipiac University Polling Institute

Public opinion polling center in the United States

Quinnipiac University Poll

Founder| Paul Falcigno
Headquarters| 60 Westwoods Road
Hamden, Connecticut, U.S.

Director

| Doug Schwartz
Affiliations| Quinnipiac University

Staff

| 300[1]
Website| poll.qu.edu

The Quinnipiac University Poll is a public opinion polling center based at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. It surveys public opinion in Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Minnesota, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Texas, Virginia, and nationally.[2][3] The poll is unaffiliated with any academic department at the school and is run by Quinnipiac's public relations department.[4]

Academic-affiliated polls like Quinnipiac have grown in significance as media budgets have declined, and in 2017 Politico called the Quinnipiac poll "the most significant player among a number of schools that have established a national polling footprint."[4]

It is considerably larger than other academic polling centers, including the Franklin & Marshall College Poll, which only surveys Pennsylvania.[1] The organization employs about 300 interviewers, generally drawing about a quarter of its employees from political science, communications, psychology, and sociology majors, and the remainder of interviewers from those not affiliated with the university.[1] The poll has a full-time staff of ten.[1] The university does not disclose Quinnipiac University Poll's operating budget, and the poll does not accept clients or outside funding.[1]

## History

[edit]

The polling operation began informally in 1988 in conjunction with a marketing class.[5] It became formal in 1996 when the university hired a CBS News analyst to assess the data being gained.[5] It subsequently focused on the Northeastern states, gradually expanding during presidential elections to cover swing states as well.[5] The institute is funded by the university.[5] Quinnipiac University is widely known for its poll;[6] the publicity it has generated has been credited with increasing the university's enrollment.[1]

In 2007, Quinnipiac University Poll underwent construction of a new two-story building that was expected to double its available capacity to 160 calling cubicles.[1] The purpose of the capacity expansion was to allow polling multiple states at once, rectifying a problem that arose during the 2006 Connecticut Senate election where other polls were canceled to support that poll.[1]

The poll has been cited by major news outlets throughout North America and Europe, including The Washington Post,[7] Fox News,[8] USA Today,[9] The New York Times,[10] CNN,[11] and Reuters.[12] Quinnipiac University Poll receives national recognition for its independent surveys of residents throughout the United States. It conducts public opinion polls on politics and public policy as a public service as well as for academic research.[1][5] Poll results are also aggregated by ABC News' FiveThirtyEight.[3] Andrew S. Tanenbaum, the founder of the poll-analysis website Electoral-vote.com, compared major pollsters' performances in the 2010 midterm Senate elections and concluded that Quinnipiac was the most accurate, with a mean error of 2.0 percent.[13][14]

Politico reported in 2018 that "much of Quinnipiac’s prominence in the field is also a result of its commitment to self-promotion." The publication pointed out that the poll "reports to the university’s public-affairs office, not any academic wing of the school," and that for many years the poll employed New York publicist Howard Rubenstein and prominent journalists to promote the poll.[4]

## See also

[edit]

* Suffolk University Political Research Center
* Monmouth University Polling Institute
* Siena Research Institute
* Marist Institute for Public Opinion

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Lieberman, Brett (April 9, 2007). "Behind the scenes at the Q-Poll". Patriot-News. Archived from the original on October 1, 2011.
2. ^ "Quinnipiac University/Poll: Contacts and Information". quinnipiac.edu. Quinnipiac University.
3. ^ a b Silver, Nate (2021-03-25). "Pollster Ratings - Quinnipiac University". FiveThirtyEight. Retrieved 2022-03-22.
4. ^ a b c Shepard, Steven (2017-12-12). "The Poll That Built a University". POLITICO Magazine. Retrieved 2022-06-01.
5. ^ a b c d e Lapidos, Juliet (October 16, 2008). "What's With All the "Quinnipiac University" Polls? How an obscure school in Connecticut turned into a major opinion research center". Slate.
6. ^ Weinreb, Michael (December 26, 2007). "New Quinnipiac Coach Is Expected to Build a Winner". The New York Times. Retrieved April 24, 2009.
7. ^ LaCruz, Donna (October 31, 2006). "Polls: Menendez Leads Kean in N.J. Race". Washington Post.
8. ^ "Poll: Lieberman Leads Challenger Lamont in Connecticut Senate Race". Fox News Channel. August 17, 2006.
9. ^ "Quinnipiac Poll: Giuliani still leads GOP hopefuls, but by much less". USA Today. May 21, 2010. Archived from the original on June 25, 2007. Retrieved May 22, 2010.
10. ^ Kapochunas, Rachel (July 13, 2007). "Poll Tests 'New York-New York-New York' Race in Ohio". New York Times.
11. ^ Boyette, Chris. "Poll: Majority of New Yorkers approve of NYPD surveillance of Muslims". CNN.
12. ^ Sullivan, Andy (Jun 26, 2008). "Obama leads in four battleground states: poll". Reuters.
13. ^ Tanenbaum, Andrew S. (November 9, 2010). "Analysis of the Pollsters". Electoral-vote.com. Retrieved 2011-01-24.
14. ^ "Rasmussen Polls Were Biased and Inaccurate; Quinnipiac, SurveyUSA Performed Strongly". fivethirtyeight.com. 5 November 2010. Retrieved 25 March 2017.

## External links

[edit]

* Official website

* v
* t
* e

Quinnipiac University

Located in: Hamden, Connecticut

Academics|

* Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine at Quinnipiac University
* István Széchenyi Chair in International Economics
* Quinnipiac University School of Law

Athletics|

* Quinnipiac Bobcats
* Men's ice hockey
* Women's ice hockey
* Men's basketball
* Women's basketball
* Men's lacrosse
* Men's soccer
* Baseball
* Softball
* People's United Center
* Quinnipiac Baseball Field
* Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
* ECAC Hockey

Campus|

* Quinnipiac Barnacle
* Ireland's Great Hunger Museum
* Quinnipiac University Polling Institute
* WQAQ
* Q30 Television

People|

* John L. Lahey
* Judy D. Olian
* Ronald G. Beckett

* v
* t
* e

Social survey research

Data collection|

* Collection methods
* Questionnaire
* Interview
* Structured
* Semi-structured
* Unstructured
* Couple

Methodology|

* Census
* Sampling frame
* Statistical sample
* Sampling for surveys
* Random sampling
* Simple random sampling
* Quota sampling
* Stratified sampling
* Nonprobability sampling
* Sample size determination
* Research design
* Panel study
* Cohort study
* Cross-sectional study
* Cross-sequential study

Survey errors|

* Sampling error
* Standard error
* Sampling bias
* Systematic errors
* Non-sampling error
* Specification error
* Frame error
* Measurement error
* Response errors
* Non-response bias
* Coverage error
* Pseudo-opinion
* Processing errors

Data analysis|

* Categorical data
* Contingency table
* Level of measurement
* Descriptive statistics
* Exploratory data analysis
* Multivariate statistics
* Psychometrics
* Statistical inference
* Statistical models
* Graphical
* Log-linear
* Structural

Applications|

* Audience measurement
* Demography
* Market research
* Opinion poll
* Public opinion

Major surveys|

* List of comparative social surveys
* Afrobarometer
* American National Election Studies
* Asian Barometer Survey
* Comparative Study of Electoral Systems
* Emerson College Polling
* Eurobarometer
* European Social Survey
* Gallup Poll
* General Social Survey
* Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey
* International Social Survey
* Latinobarómetro
* List of household surveys in the United States
* National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey
* New Zealand Attitudes and Values Study
* Suffolk University Political Research Center
* The Phillips Academy Poll
* Quinnipiac University Polling Institute
* World Values Survey

Associations|

* American Association for Public Opinion Research
* European Society for Opinion and Marketing Research
* International Statistical Institute
* Pew Research Center
* World Association for Public Opinion Research

* Category
* Projects
* Business
* Politics
* Psychology
* Sociology
* Statistics

Authority control databases

International|

* VIAF

National|

* United States

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