How is it that in the U.S.,surveys of 1,000 are accepted as representative of the entire country?

Question

I’ve noticed most U.S. polls query around 1,000 people and sometimes even less. Somehow that qualifies for headlines like “Americans say…” or “Most Americans…” How is it acceptable that 0.0002% of the population is accepted as representative?

In: Other

Answer 1

They aren’t. They are clickbait/rage bait headlines. I have to explain this alllllll the time to my coworkers. (POTUS Political example) If you go to a rural community, most surveys are going to favor Trump, always. If you go to a college campus, most surveys are going to trend progressive. If you go to an elementary school, most surveys are going to favor Bluey or Ryan.

The “news media” just picks their favored region and takes a poll from there.