... In 1936, the 2.3 million replies that they received predicted that Alf Landon would win the Presidential election. However Franklin Roosevelt won by a Landslide. So what was different about this election compared to the previous five, which the Literary Digest had all predicted correctly? Well the problems with this opinion poll can be highlighted by looking at the opinion poll conducted by George Gallop in the same year. Whereas the Literary Digest poll had hoped to be accurate simply by the fact that is used huge a huge sample to create the poll, Gallop realised that it was not the scale of the poll that was important; it was that it was done in a scientific manor that counted. The main reason for the failure of the LD was that it used telephone numbers details and car ownership details to find addresses to send the postcards to. In 1936 ...

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