Onsite facts & stats

Question 1

About how many temporary workers did the U.S. Census Bureau hire to go door to door for the 2020 Census?

Accepted Answer

over 500,000. The decennial count is one of the largest in-person data-collection efforts in the world, needing an army of temporary field workers.

Question 2

About how many U.S. households does the government's Current Population Survey interview in person or by phone each month?

Accepted Answer

about 60,000 households. Running since 1940, this enumerator-conducted survey is the source of the official U.S. unemployment rate.

Question 3

The modern exit poll — interviewing voters in person right after they vote — was pioneered in the U.S. in which decade?

Accepted Answer

1960s (1967). Pollster Warren Mitofsky ran an early American exit poll for a Kentucky governor's race in 1967, on site at the polling places.

Question 4

In the 2020 U.S. election, in-person exit-poll interviewers questioned Election Day voters at how many polling locations nationwide?

Accepted Answer

115 locations, 7,774 voters. On-site exit-poll interviewers work a random sample of polling places, then results are combined with phone interviews of mail and early voters.

Onsite facts & stats

The basics

About how many temporary workers did the U.S. Census Bureau hire to go door to door for the 2020 Census?

Going deeper

About how many U.S. households does the government's Current Population Survey interview in person or by phone each month?

Expert level

The modern exit poll — interviewing voters in person right after they vote — was pioneered in the U.S. in which decade?

In the 2020 U.S. election, in-person exit-poll interviewers questioned Election Day voters at how many polling locations nationwide?