Zogby International
Encyclopedia
IBOPE Zogby International is an international market research
, opinion polling firm founded in 1984 by John Zogby
. The company polls and consults for a wide spectrum of business media, government, and political groups, and conducts public opinion research in more than 70 countries. IBOPE Zogby International is headquartered in
Utica, New York
, with offices in Washington, D.C.
, Miami, Florida
, and Dubai
, United Arab Emirates
.
founded the polling firm Zogby International in 1984. Since then, he has conducted polls and focus groups around the world.
One key reason for the Zogby's enormous success stems from his decision to maintain an in-house call center using live operators in Upstate New York
. But, with the dramatic changes in the telephone industry in recent years, Zogby in 1998 began developing an interactive online polling methodology using a massive database of respondents that closely represents the national population at large.
would lose in his home state to incumbent President George H. W. Bush
. That poll is widely thought to have pushed Cuomo from the race. Later, he gained more national attention in the 1996 Presidential election
when his final poll came within a tenth of a point of the actual result. Zogby also correctly polled the cliffhanger result of the 2000 presidential election won narrowly by George W. Bush
, in contrast to most other pollsters who had expected Bush to win easily.
In 2004, while Zogby's actual polling was correct, his Election Day prediction failed to materialize. Before polls closed in the 2004 presidential election, Zogby predicted a comfortable win for John Kerry
(311 electoral votes, versus 213 for Bush, with 14 too close to call), saying, "Bush had this election lost a long time ago," adding that voters wanted a change and would vote for "any candidate who was not Bush." While admitting that he was mistaken, Zogby did not admit any possible flaws in his polling methods, insisting that his predictions were all within the margin of error
. While on The Daily Show With Jon Stewart, he said he felt that Kerry would win due to the undecided voters. Despite his personal prediction, Zogby's final poll showed Bush with a one point lead over Kerry. Zogby later released a "Mea culpa
" in which he stated "I will do better next time: I will just poll, not predict."
In 2006, Zogby phone polling correctly called all 10 competitive United States Senate
races and nailed the exact margin in the three closest races. His interactive online polling correctly called the winner of 17 of 18 races, but wrongly calculated the margin of their victory (which can be the most important aspect in measuring a pollsters accuracy) by an average of 8.6%, twice the average of Rasmussen, SurveyUSA, and Mason-Dixon.
Prior to the January, 2008 New Hampshire Democratic primary, Zogby, like virtually all other pollsters, showed in his polling a large (13 points, in Zogby's case) lead for Barack Obama
over Hillary Clinton, adding, "Obama is still on a roll and not slowing down. He had another big day." Clinton went on to win by three percentage points. Zogby's polling results in the Iowa Caucuses, and the South Carolina, and Florida primaries, however, were far closer, and he was one of only a few pollsters to correctly call Obama's Iowa win. However, his final poll in California showed Obama winning by 13%, but the actual results showed Hillary winning by 10%, a 23-point difference far beyond the margin of error.
The company also had success with elections in countries outside the United States. Zogby correctly called the 2001 Israel
i election for Ariel Sharon
, the 2000 Mexican
election for Vicente Fox
and again in Mexico with the victory of Felipe Calderón
in 2006. Zogby made a sideline of polling Arab attitudes toward the United States, particularly in regard to Lebanon.
Group, a Brazilian multinational company specializing in media, market and opinion research. It was announced in March 2011 that the company would be known as IBOPE Zogby International and would be managed by Chief Executive Officer, Kjell de Orr, and a five-member Board Directors, including John Zogby
, Márcia Cavallari, CEO of IBOPE Inteligência, Kjell de Orr, Marcelo Kac, Latin American Business and Operations Executive Director for IBOPE Inteligência, and His Highness Prince Turki bin Khalid al Saud.
statistician of FiveThirtyEight.com
called Zogby International's online polling division, Zogby Interactive, "The worst pollster in the world." ranking it last in his Pollster Rankings. He also ranked Zogby's Telephone polls 53rd of 64. He notes the pollster relies on one day polling which causes large fluctuations in data. Silver uses their misleading questions, seemingly to create a bias, as evidence for their status.
When conducting daily tracking polls, Zogby International only releases results for the 3 day average, as explained in a methodology statement on a 2008 Reuters/C-Span/Zogby poll which states that the 2008 election “daily tracking telephone poll will continue each day until the Nov. 4 election. With each new day of responses that are folded into the poll, the oldest third of the survey is removed, so the poll "tracks" changes in voter attitudes following events and developments in the race.”
In a review of the performance of polling firms during the 2008 elections, the Wall Street Journal noted that "Zogby International polled in eight states in the last week, including six of the closest races, and missed the final margin by an average of less than two points -- as accurate as the poll aggregators such as Pollster.com."
Market research
Market research is any organized effort to gather information about markets or customers. It is a very important component of business strategy...
, opinion polling firm founded in 1984 by John Zogby
John Zogby
John Zogby is an American political pollster and first senior fellow at The Catholic University of America's Life Cycle Institute. He is the founder, president and CEO of Zogby International, a polling firm known for both phone polling and interactive, Internet-based polling.-Early years:Zogby...
. The company polls and consults for a wide spectrum of business media, government, and political groups, and conducts public opinion research in more than 70 countries. IBOPE Zogby International is headquartered in
Utica, New York
Utica, New York
Utica is a city in and the county seat of Oneida County, New York, United States. The population was 62,235 at the 2010 census, an increase of 2.6% from the 2000 census....
, with offices in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, Miami, Florida
Miami, Florida
Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...
, and Dubai
Dubai
Dubai is a city and emirate in the United Arab Emirates . The emirate is located south of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula and has the largest population with the second-largest land territory by area of all the emirates, after Abu Dhabi...
, United Arab Emirates
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates, abbreviated as the UAE, or shortened to "the Emirates", is a state situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman, and Saudi Arabia, and sharing sea borders with Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Iran.The UAE is a...
.
Company history
John ZogbyJohn Zogby
John Zogby is an American political pollster and first senior fellow at The Catholic University of America's Life Cycle Institute. He is the founder, president and CEO of Zogby International, a polling firm known for both phone polling and interactive, Internet-based polling.-Early years:Zogby...
founded the polling firm Zogby International in 1984. Since then, he has conducted polls and focus groups around the world.
One key reason for the Zogby's enormous success stems from his decision to maintain an in-house call center using live operators in Upstate New York
Upstate New York
Upstate New York is the region of the U.S. state of New York that is located north of the core of the New York metropolitan area.-Definition:There is no clear or official boundary between Upstate New York and Downstate New York...
. But, with the dramatic changes in the telephone industry in recent years, Zogby in 1998 began developing an interactive online polling methodology using a massive database of respondents that closely represents the national population at large.
Company Timeline
John Zogby first gained attention in the 1992 presidential election when he released a survey showing the New York State Governor Mario CuomoMario Cuomo
Mario Matthew Cuomo served as the 52nd Governor of New York from 1983 to 1994, and is the father of Andrew Cuomo, the current governor of New York.-Early life:...
would lose in his home state to incumbent President George H. W. Bush
George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...
. That poll is widely thought to have pushed Cuomo from the race. Later, he gained more national attention in the 1996 Presidential election
United States presidential election, 1996
The United States presidential election of 1996 was a contest between the Democratic national ticket of President Bill Clinton of Arkansas and Vice President Al Gore of Tennessee and the Republican national ticket of former Senator Bob Dole of Kansas for President and former Housing Secretary Jack...
when his final poll came within a tenth of a point of the actual result. Zogby also correctly polled the cliffhanger result of the 2000 presidential election won narrowly by George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
, in contrast to most other pollsters who had expected Bush to win easily.
In 2004, while Zogby's actual polling was correct, his Election Day prediction failed to materialize. Before polls closed in the 2004 presidential election, Zogby predicted a comfortable win for John Kerry
John Kerry
John Forbes Kerry is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts, the 10th most senior U.S. Senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2004 presidential election, but lost to former President George W...
(311 electoral votes, versus 213 for Bush, with 14 too close to call), saying, "Bush had this election lost a long time ago," adding that voters wanted a change and would vote for "any candidate who was not Bush." While admitting that he was mistaken, Zogby did not admit any possible flaws in his polling methods, insisting that his predictions were all within the margin of error
Margin of error
The margin of error is a statistic expressing the amount of random sampling error in a survey's results. The larger the margin of error, the less faith one should have that the poll's reported results are close to the "true" figures; that is, the figures for the whole population...
. While on The Daily Show With Jon Stewart, he said he felt that Kerry would win due to the undecided voters. Despite his personal prediction, Zogby's final poll showed Bush with a one point lead over Kerry. Zogby later released a "Mea culpa
Mea Culpa
Mea culpa is a Latin phrase that translates into English as "my mistake" or "my fault". To emphasize the message, the adjective "maxima" may be inserted, resulting in "mea maxima culpa," which would translate as "my most [grievous] fault."...
" in which he stated "I will do better next time: I will just poll, not predict."
In 2006, Zogby phone polling correctly called all 10 competitive United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
races and nailed the exact margin in the three closest races. His interactive online polling correctly called the winner of 17 of 18 races, but wrongly calculated the margin of their victory (which can be the most important aspect in measuring a pollsters accuracy) by an average of 8.6%, twice the average of Rasmussen, SurveyUSA, and Mason-Dixon.
Prior to the January, 2008 New Hampshire Democratic primary, Zogby, like virtually all other pollsters, showed in his polling a large (13 points, in Zogby's case) lead for Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
over Hillary Clinton, adding, "Obama is still on a roll and not slowing down. He had another big day." Clinton went on to win by three percentage points. Zogby's polling results in the Iowa Caucuses, and the South Carolina, and Florida primaries, however, were far closer, and he was one of only a few pollsters to correctly call Obama's Iowa win. However, his final poll in California showed Obama winning by 13%, but the actual results showed Hillary winning by 10%, a 23-point difference far beyond the margin of error.
The company also had success with elections in countries outside the United States. Zogby correctly called the 2001 Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i election for Ariel Sharon
Ariel Sharon
Ariel Sharon is an Israeli statesman and retired general, who served as Israel’s 11th Prime Minister. He has been in a permanent vegetative state since suffering a stroke on 4 January 2006....
, the 2000 Mexican
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
election for Vicente Fox
Vicente Fox
Vicente Fox Quesada is a Mexican former politician who served as President of Mexico from 1 December 2000 to 30 November 2006 and currently serves as co-President of the Centrist Democrat International, an international organization of Christian democratic political parties.Fox was elected...
and again in Mexico with the victory of Felipe Calderón
Felipe Calderón
Felipe de Jesús Calderón Hinojosa is the current President of Mexico. He assumed office on December 1, 2006, and was elected for a single six-year term through 2012...
in 2006. Zogby made a sideline of polling Arab attitudes toward the United States, particularly in regard to Lebanon.
Acquisition
A majority interest in Zogby International was acquired by IBOPE Inteligência, a subsidiary of the IBOPEIBOPE
IBOPE was established in Brazil in 1942 and provides the largest collection of information in Brazilian and Latin American markets...
Group, a Brazilian multinational company specializing in media, market and opinion research. It was announced in March 2011 that the company would be known as IBOPE Zogby International and would be managed by Chief Executive Officer, Kjell de Orr, and a five-member Board Directors, including John Zogby
John Zogby
John Zogby is an American political pollster and first senior fellow at The Catholic University of America's Life Cycle Institute. He is the founder, president and CEO of Zogby International, a polling firm known for both phone polling and interactive, Internet-based polling.-Early years:Zogby...
, Márcia Cavallari, CEO of IBOPE Inteligência, Kjell de Orr, Marcelo Kac, Latin American Business and Operations Executive Director for IBOPE Inteligência, and His Highness Prince Turki bin Khalid al Saud.
Criticism
Nate SilverNate Silver
Nathaniel Read "Nate" Silver is an American statistician, psephologist, and writer. Silver first gained public recognition for developing PECOTA, a system for forecasting the performance and career development of Major League Baseball players, which he sold to and then managed for Baseball...
statistician of FiveThirtyEight.com
FiveThirtyEight.com
FiveThirtyEight is a polling aggregation website with a blog created by Nate Silver. Sometimes colloquially referred to as 538 dot com or just 538, the website takes its name from the number of electors in the United States electoral college...
called Zogby International's online polling division, Zogby Interactive, "The worst pollster in the world." ranking it last in his Pollster Rankings. He also ranked Zogby's Telephone polls 53rd of 64. He notes the pollster relies on one day polling which causes large fluctuations in data. Silver uses their misleading questions, seemingly to create a bias, as evidence for their status.
When conducting daily tracking polls, Zogby International only releases results for the 3 day average, as explained in a methodology statement on a 2008 Reuters/C-Span/Zogby poll which states that the 2008 election “daily tracking telephone poll will continue each day until the Nov. 4 election. With each new day of responses that are folded into the poll, the oldest third of the survey is removed, so the poll "tracks" changes in voter attitudes following events and developments in the race.”
In a review of the performance of polling firms during the 2008 elections, the Wall Street Journal noted that "Zogby International polled in eight states in the last week, including six of the closest races, and missed the final margin by an average of less than two points -- as accurate as the poll aggregators such as Pollster.com."