Gallup, Inc. facts for kids
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The Gallup Organization office in Washington, D.C. with a reflection visible of the neighboring National Portrait Gallery
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Formerly
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| Private | |
| Industry | Management consulting |
| Founded | 1935 in Princeton, New Jersey, United States |
| Founder | George Gallup |
| Headquarters | The Gallup Building, 901 F Street, NW,
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United States
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Number of locations
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30–40 offices globally (2017) |
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Key people
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| Services |
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| Owner | Employee-owned |
Gallup, Inc. is a well-known American company. It specializes in understanding people's opinions and helping businesses. The company is based in Washington, D.C..
George Gallup started the company in 1935. It became famous for its public opinion polls. These polls ask people worldwide about their thoughts. Gallup also helps organizations with advice and research. They offer tools like the CliftonStrengths assessment. They also publish books about business and management.
Contents
About Gallup
Gallup is a private company. Its employees own a part of it. The main office is in Washington, D.C.. It is located in The Gallup Building.
Gallup has many offices around the world. There are 30 to 40 offices globally. These include cities like London, Berlin, and Singapore. About 1,500 people work for Gallup. In 2022, Jon Clifton became Gallup's CEO.
It is important to know that Gallup, Inc. is not connected to Gallup International Association. Sometimes, this other group is called Gallup International. Gallup, Inc. has taken legal action against groups using its name without permission.
Gallup's History
The Early Years (1900s)
George Gallup (1901–1984) started the company in 1935. It was first called the American Institute of Public Opinion. This was in Princeton, New Jersey. George Gallup wanted his polls to be fair. He made sure to ask people from different groups. This way, the poll results would truly represent voters.
Gallup also decided not to do surveys for political parties. This included the Republican or Democratic parties. The company still follows this rule today.
In 1935, George Gallup shared his first political poll. In 1936, Time magazine praised Gallup's data. They said it was a very accurate way to measure public feelings. This included how people felt about U.S. presidents.
A big moment happened in 1936. Gallup correctly predicted that Franklin Roosevelt would win the U.S. presidency. This was against what a popular magazine, The Literary Digest, had predicted. This success made Gallup very popular. It became a leader in American polling. By 1938, Gallup also started doing research for advertisers and movie companies.
By 1948, Gallup had polling groups in many countries. His polls were in newspapers in the U.S. and abroad. The modern Gallup Organization was formed in 1958. George Gallup brought all his polling work together then.
George Gallup passed away in 1984. Four years later, his family sold the company. It was bought by Selection Research, Incorporated (SRI). This company was based in Lincoln, Nebraska. George Gallup's sons, George Gallup Jr. and Alec Gallup, stayed involved. They remained co-chairmen and directors.
SRI was started in 1969 by Don Clifton. It focused on market research and choosing employees. After being sold to SRI, Gallup changed its focus. It became a company that helps businesses. They work with companies to solve problems with employees and customers. Gallup still conducts and shares public polls.
In the 1990s, Gallup created 12 questions called Q12. These questions help businesses understand how engaged their employees are. Gallup also partnered with USA Today and CNN for polls. They launched their Clifton StrengthsFinder tool online. In 1999, Gallup experts wrote a popular book called First, Break All the Rules. This book was about how to manage people.
The 2000s and Beyond
In 2002, a magazine called Fortune Small Business noted something. The success of First, Break All the Rules helped Gallup's consulting business grow a lot.
In 2015, Gallup decided not to do polls for the 2016 U.S. presidential election. This was to help them focus more on their consulting work. Gallup leaders said they wanted to use their resources better. They felt polling on general issues was more helpful.
What Gallup Offers
Gallup offers many services. One well-known service is the Gallup Poll. However, this poll brings in only a small part of the company's money. Gallup mainly provides research and advice to businesses.
They offer the Q12 employee engagement survey. This survey asks employees 12 questions about their job. It covers their workplace, coworkers, and managers. The goal is to measure how involved employees are. This helps managers make workplaces better.
Another service is CliftonStrengths (also known as StrengthsFinder). This is a special assessment. It helps people find their top five natural talents. It then gives ideas on how to use these strengths. Gallup also works with schools. They help schools focus on students' strengths. They also try to make students more engaged in learning. The company runs the Gallup Student Poll in the U.S. This poll measures success based on hope, engagement, and well-being.
The Gallup Poll
The Gallup Poll is a part of Gallup that regularly conducts public opinion polls. The results and analysis from these polls are shared daily. Doing these polls costs Gallup money each year. But it makes the company well-known. This helps promote their other business services. In 2019, Mohamed Younis became the editor-in-chief of Gallup News.
Historically, the Gallup Poll has tracked public attitudes. They ask about political, social, and economic topics. This includes subjects that can be sensitive or debated.
How Gallup Polls the U.S.
Gallup used to do daily tracking surveys. They would interview 500 people across the U.S. every day. They did this for most of the year. They used both cellphones and landlines to reach people. Live interviewers would make the calls. They would also call back if they didn't reach someone the first time. In 2018, Gallup stopped its daily reporting.
Gallup uses a special method to choose phone numbers. A computer randomly creates phone numbers. This means they can call unlisted numbers too. When they call a landline, they ask to speak to an adult. This adult is chosen based on who has the next birthday. For cell phones, they assume one person uses the phone. Gallup also does interviews in Spanish. They include people from Alaska and Hawaii.
When people are chosen randomly, every adult has an equal chance to be in the poll. A typical Gallup poll interviews about 1,000 adults. The results usually have a small margin of error. This means the actual public opinion is likely close to the poll's result. After collecting data, Gallup adjusts it. They make sure the people in the poll match the U.S. population. This helps make the results more accurate.
How Accurate Are Gallup Polls?
From 1936 to 2008, Gallup Polls usually predicted the winner of presidential elections. There were a few times they were wrong. One famous example was in 1948. Most pollsters, including Gallup, thought Thomas Dewey would win. But Harry S. Truman actually won. Another time was in 1976. Gallup incorrectly predicted Gerald Ford would win over Jimmy Carter.
In 2012, Gallup incorrectly predicted that Mitt Romney would win the U.S. presidential election. After this, Gallup spent six months reviewing its methods. They found some issues. For example, they made too few calls in certain time zones. They also overestimated the number of white voters. They relied too much on landline phones, which meant they reached older people more often.
Frank Newport, who was Gallup's editor-in-chief then, said Gallup just estimates the national popular vote. He said they don't predict the winner. He also said their final poll was within the expected margin of error. Gallup continues to learn and improve its methods.
In 2016, The Wall Street Journal compared Gallup's unemployment numbers. They looked at them against numbers from the U.S. government. The numbers were very similar. This showed that Gallup's methods produce reliable results.
Gallup World Poll
In 2005, Gallup started its World Poll. This poll surveys people in 160 countries. This covers over 98% of all adults worldwide. The Gallup World Poll asks more than 100 questions. It also has questions specific to different regions. It covers topics like law and order, jobs, and well-being. Gallup also works with groups and governments. They create special questions to gather information on specific topics.
Gallup also publishes other reports. These include the State of the Global Workplace report. They also have the Global Emotions report and Rating World Leaders report.
How the World Poll Works
Gallup interviews about 1,000 people in each country. They aim to survey people aged 15 and older. Gallup asks questions in each person's own language. This helps make the results fair for comparison. In countries where most people have phones, Gallup uses phone surveys. If phone use is low, they do face-to-face interviews.
Surveys on China
Gallup is known for its surveys about China. Their latest survey in March 2023 showed something interesting. Only 15% of Americans had a good view of China. This was the lowest number since 1979. In late 2023, Gallup announced it had closed all its operations in China. Gallup first started working in China in 1993.
Gallup's Workplace Awards
For over 15 years, Gallup has given out the Gallup Exceptional Workplace Award. This award goes to organizations that meet high standards. These standards are based on the Q12 employee engagement survey. This survey has looked at over 2.7 million workers.
Gallup Press
Gallup has its own publishing company called Gallup Press. It has published about 30 books. These books are about business and personal well-being. Some recent titles include It's the Manager and Wellbeing at Work. Other famous Gallup Press books are First, Break All the Rules and StrengthsFinder 2.0. In 2017, StrengthsFinder 2.0 was one of Amazon's best-selling books ever.
See also
- Gallup's most admired man and woman poll
- Gallup's List of Most Widely Admired People of the 20th Century
- George H. Gallup House
- CliftonStrengths
