Background Memo  

The most recent polling results by Fairleigh Dickinson University's PublicMind are part of a tracking poll begun on September 23 and conducted by telephone using a statewide, randomly selected sample of likely voters in New Jersey. These results are from 489 interviews conducted from September 23 through September 28.  “Likely voters” are registered voters who have voted in the last 4 years and have a good or excellent chance of voting in this year’s Presidential contest. The sampling error for 489 adults is +/- 4.5 percentage points at the 95 percent level of confidence. Survey results are also subject to non-sampling error. This kind of error, which cannot be measured, arises from a number of factors including, but not limited to, non-response (eligible individuals refusing to be interviewed), question wording, the order in which questions are asked, and variations among interviewers. All PublicMind interviews are conducted by TMR, Inc. of Cedar Knolls, NJ.  Professionally trained interviewers use a CATI (Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing) system. Random selection >is achieved through computerized random-digit dialing. This technique gives every person with a phone number (including those with unlisted numbers) an equal chance of being selected.

The wording and order of the questions included in this release are as follows:

Question: The rock singer from New Jersey, Bruce Springsteen has endorsed john Kerry for President. Does that make you more or less likely to vote for John Kerry?

Question:  Have you heard of [rotate list]? If you haven't just tell me. [If yes, ask:] Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of …? Would that be very or somewhat?

Question: Joe Piscopo is a comedian who used to star on Saturday Night Live and is talking about running for governor of New Jersey as a Democrat. Do you think you would consider voting for Joe Piscopo or not?

Question: Now going back to the Presidential election, just for fun, if the TV character Tony Soprano from the TV show, The Sopranos, were going to vote for President, who do you think he’d vote for, … or …?

see also:
Survey Analysis
Thigpen's Analysis
Salmore's Analysis
Tabular Results
Copyright © 2004, Fairleigh Dickinson University. All rights reserved. FDU PublicMind Poll [Latest update 041004]