Ask Marilyn

As landlines are slowly becoming obsolete and fewer people are answering their mobile phones unless they know who’s calling, how are pollsters managing to get enough information?

—Joe Rihn, Englewood, Fla.

What pollsters call the “response rate” has been plummeting for decades as Americans tire of the novelty of being asked for their opinions. This is now exacerbated by the annoyance of answering such a call while you’re shopping for groceries or doing the laundry. But the difficulty of obtaining enough information isn’t the main problem. The difficulty is knowing which people will respond by either means. Also, whether they will actually vote is uncertain.