Survation

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Survation Ltd
IndustryMarket Research
Founded2010
HeadquartersLondon, England, UK
Area served
United Kingdom
ServicesMarket Research
Websitewww.survation.com

Survation is a polling and market research agency based in London, England. Survation have been conducting research surveys since 2010. Surveys are conducted via telephone, online panel and face to face as well as omnibus research for a broad range of clients including television, newspapers, charities, lobby groups, trade unions, law firms and political parties. Damian Lyons Lowe is the company founder and Chief Executive.[1]

Overview[edit]

Survation was incorporated on 2 February 2010 as a private limited company.[2]

The company is a member of the British Polling Council and Market Research Society.[3][4] The company chief executive, Damian Lyons Lowe is the company's representative and member on the British Polling Council.

Survation were reported[by whom?] to be the most active and accurate opinion polling company (online and telephone) during the Scottish Independence Referendum campaign in which the final result was 55% for "No".[citation needed] Survation's eve of polling day telephone poll was very narrowly more accurate than Ipsos Mori, who also used a telephone-based methodology.[citation needed] The company also claimed that the Survation final poll before the 2015 general election was exceptionally accurate,[5] unlike most others, but the result was suppressed by the CEO through fear of the poll being an outlier.[6]

2016 EU Referendum[edit]

In contrast to polling published on or conducted during the day of the EU Referendum by Populus, YouGov, and Ipsos Mori that predicted the UK would vote to remain in EU, Survation conducted a private exit poll which correctly predicted Leave, despite academics deciding an exit poll for broadcast would not be feasible and an expensive and difficult proposition.[7]

2017 UK election[edit]

Survation, alone amongst opinion pollsters, correctly predicted a hung parliament. Their Chief Executive, Damian Lyons Lowe, appeared on a BBC program where the poll was mocked and described as an "outlier".[8] After the election, he was invited back on the BBC to talk again about his prediction.[9]

Methodology[edit]

Survation opinion polling is achieved through telephone, online and face to face surveys. Nationally, data is weighted to represent the wider population of the United Kingdom in terms of gender, age, socio-economic group, religion, how they have previously voted, and how likely a person says they are to vote in the next general election. Respondents who are either undecided or refuse to state how they would vote are excluded from the final results, unless they have provided details of how they have voted in the past, in which case, that information is used to adjust the results accordingly.[10]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "About Us". Survation. Archived from the original on 10 March 2013. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
  2. ^ "WebCHeck – Select and Access Company Information". Wck2.companieshouse.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 29 January 2021. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
  3. ^ "Officers / Members – British Polling Council". britishpollingcouncil.org. Archived from the original on 15 December 2020. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
  4. ^ "Survation Ltd – Market Research Agencies – The Research Buyers Guide". Market Research Society. Archived from the original on 12 December 2019. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
  5. ^ "General Election Poll Final" (PDF). 8 May 2015. Archived (PDF) from the original on 5 May 2016. Retrieved 27 April 2017.
  6. ^ "This polling company claims it knew the General Election result ahead of time but 'chickened out' of publishing it for fear the poll was an "outlier"". Business Insider. 12 May 2015. Archived from the original on 10 June 2017. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  7. ^ "How pollsters helped hedge funds beat the crash". Bloomberg News. 25 June 2018. Archived from the original on 13 July 2021. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  8. ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: Pollster mocked by BBC for predicting Corbyn surge, hung parliament and DUP coalition – via YouTube.
  9. ^ "Survation Was the Most Accurate Pollster this Election – How Did We Get It Right?". Survation. 14 June 2017. Archived from the original on 11 May 2021. Retrieved 22 May 2022.
  10. ^ "Brexit Anniversary Poll" (PDF). survation.com. 21 June 2018. Archived (PDF) from the original on 21 April 2022. Retrieved 26 July 2023.