WASHINGTON (AP) -- They're mainly young, single and urban. They move frequently, usually renting rather than owning their homes. Pollsters call them "cell phone only" because they don't own traditional phones.
As this hard-to-track population grows, so does the problem of accurately incorporating them into polling and scientific surveys that seek to measure everything from health and business practices to political attitudes.
For now, the problem is most pressing in areas of research where the attitudes of young adults are sought, like surveys of radio listener preferences.
Paul Lavrakas, a public opinion researcher at Nielsen Media Research, organized a meeting in New York City this month where pollsters and others involved in survey research discussed ways to address the cell-phone-only issue. One major aim is to learn how to deal with this population before the next presidential election.
"What the industry doesn't know how to do is how to statistically balance those reached by cell phones with those reached on land lines," said Lavrakas.
The cell-phone-only population is growing fast. In 2001, it comprised about a half-percent of the population. Now it's estimated at 7 percent. Among people age 15 to 24, almost one in five have only cell phones, according to Clyde Tucker, a researcher at the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The industry has to deal with the cell phone issue while it's still manageable or it will be doing that research work when cell phones have become a problem for surveys -- "and that's not a good practice," said Mike Brick, a statistician at Westat, which handles scientific surveys for the federal government.
The cell-phone-only issue is just the latest challenge facing survey researchers. People have shown less willingness to talk to survey researchers, especially on the phone. Many polls are conducted on the telephone, the fastest and most efficient way to do a survey. But some surveys are done face to face.
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