"I've wrestled with this problem for years... there are major problems to be worked out. I'm guessing that Luntz used some form of listed sample. Most lists tend to over-represent those with relatively strong religious identities (and Orthodox Jews). This might help to explain the surprising Republican tilt in the results. Perhaps I'm expecting too much, but it's curious that no one quoted in the story questioned the sampling."Since Luntz does not always share how he does his polls (grumble, snarl), we get to guess. Let me offer another possibility to Sid's. It is possible that Luntz took advantage of the lists of the United Jewish Federation. In looking at how religion affiliations are counted, I found that organizational source data on Jews was usually obtained from UJF lists. I am told that UJF lists are extremely thorough, because they demand to know how to contact every single Jew in America for their fund raising. And certainly UJF does not discriminate between a Jew who thinks himself Orthodox and one who simply feels an ethnic attachment -- they just want the money. Of course, one can argue that that definition is too broad...
But perhaps the poll is not as skewed as Sid suggests. As I said, perhaps. I will report back soon with my analysis of the RJC poll.
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