Many publications made private inquiries before presidential election, generally by means of questionnaires sent to subscribers and by telephone surveys. The principle common to all these inquiries was that they depended on quantity rather than quality; little effort was made to reach representatives of all segments of the population. Still, the erroneous belief persisted that the greater the number of questionnaires, the more accurate the results would be. The record was held by the American monthly Literary Digest, which sent out millions of postcards with short and pointed questions before each election, and received many hundreds of thousands of replies. In fact, in 1932, the Literary Digest’s forecast was off by only 1%.
In view of such striking achievements, it seemed rather improper for the young American journlist, George Gallup, to claim that large numbers were irrelevant, and that equally accurate or better predictions could be made with a small but carefu
A. It was successful because it took all sections of the population into consideration.
B. It was successful because the publications sent out numerous questionnaires.
C. It was unsuccessful because it didn't take the composition of the electorate into consideration.
D. It was unsuccessful because it put emphasis on quality instead of quantity.
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