Archibald Maddock Crossley (December 7, 1896 – May 1, 1985) was an American pollster, statistician, and pioneer in public opinion research. Along with friends-cum-rivals

Elmo Roper Elmo Burns Roper Jr. (July 31, 1900 in Hebron, Nebraska – April 30, 1971 in Redding, Connecticut) was an American pollster known for his pioneering work in market research and opinion polling, alongside friends-cum-rivals Archibald Cr ...

and

George Gallup George Horace Gallup (November 18, 1901 – July 26, 1984) was an American pioneer of survey sampling techniques and inventor of the Gallup poll, a successful statistical method of survey sampling for measuring public opinion. Life and career ...

, Crossley has been described as one of the fathers of election polling.

Biography

Crossley was born in Fieldsboro,

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York (state), New York; on the ea ...

, on December 7, 1896. He attended

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the n ...

for one year in 1917, dropping out to go to work as a copywriter and researcher for J. H. Cross Company, a small advertising firm in Philadelphia. He returned to Princeton and received his bachelor's degree in psychology in 1950. Crossley was research director for ''

Literary Digest ''The Literary Digest'' was an influential American general interest weekly magazine published by Funk & Wagnalls. Founded by Isaac Kaufmann Funk in 1890, it eventually merged with two similar weekly magazines, ''Public Opinion'' and '' Current ...

'' from 1922 to 1926, when he launched his own market research company. In 1929, he developed the Crossley ratings (a term he coined) to gauge the audience size of radio broadcasts. Like Elmo Roper and George Gallup, Crossley successfully predicted the outcome of the

1936 United States presidential election The 1936 United States presidential election was the 38th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 3, 1936. In the midst of the Great Depression, incumbent Democratic President Franklin D. Roosevelt defeated Republican G ...

. The pollsters used scientific sampling methodologies that proved far more accurate than the ''Literary Digest'''s straw poll, which had notoriously predicted Franklin D. Roosevelt's defeat (he won in a landslide). Crossley was instrumental in the establishment of the Market Research Council, the National Council on Public Polls, and the

American Association for Public Opinion Research The American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR) is a professional organization of more than 2,000 public opinion and survey research professionals in the United States and from around the world, with members from academia, media, gover ...

, which he served as president from 1952 to 1953. He joined the editorial board of ''

Public Opinion Quarterly ''Public Opinion Quarterly'' is an academic journal published by Oxford University Press for the American Association for Public Opinion Research, covering communication studies and political science. It was established in 1937 and according to th ...

'' in 1944. After Crossley, Roper, and Gallup all wrongly predicted the outcome of the 1948 U.S. presidential election, they developed industry standards for public opinion polls, inaugurating an industry-wide shift from quota sampling to probability sampling. Crossley was the first pollster to study the psychology of questionnaires, such as how phraseology influenced responses. He also crusaded for a stronger code of professional ethics among pollsters, publicly rebuking the

Democratic National Committee The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is the governing body of the United States Democratic Party. The committee coordinates strategy to support Democratic Party candidates throughout the country for local, state, and national office, as well ...

in 1967 for leaking a private Crossley poll to the press in an attempt to bolster

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...

's sinking popularity.

Personal life

Crossley was married to Dorothy Fox Crossley, who died in 1983. Their daughter, Helen Martha Crossley (1921–2016), worked for the

United States Information Agency The United States Information Agency (USIA), which operated from 1953 to 1999, was a United States agency devoted to " public diplomacy". In 1999, prior to the reorganization of intelligence agencies by President George W. Bush, President Bil ...

for decades and founded the Crossley Center for Public Opinion Research at the

University of Denver The University of Denver (DU) is a private research university in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1864, it is the oldest independent private university in the Rocky Mountain Region of the United States. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Univ ...

in 2012. Archibald Crossley died at his home in

Princeton Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ni ...

, on May 1, 1985.

References

External links

Archibald Crossley Papers
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University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from H ...

Archives & Special Collections {{DEFAULTSORT:Crossley, Archibald 1896 births 1985 deaths People from Burlington County, New Jersey People from Princeton, New Jersey Princeton University alumni American political consultants Market researchers American statisticians Pollsters Public opinion