In 1936, pollsters at the Literary Digest were guilty of ________ when they mistakenly predicted a presidential victory for Alf Landon over Franklin Roosevelt by polling people whose names came from the telephone book and automobile registration records.

In 1936, pollsters at the Literary Digest were guilty of selection bias when they mistakenly predicted a presidential victory for Alf Landon over Franklin Roosevelt by polling people whose names came from the telephone book and automobile registration records.

Literary Digest had always conduct a poll prior to 1936 which correctly predicted the winner but they are best remember today for the circumstances surrounding the poll of 1936 election which showed that Alfred Landon was likely to be the overwhelming winner.

Literary Digest were guilty of selection bias because of the size of the sample they used was narrow to selected samples