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

It depends entirely on statistics and probability. For example, if I look at the relationship between depression and self-compassion in 100 people, I will find the same thing if I asked 1000 people or 10,000 people. More isn’t always better. Sometimes it’s just overkill.