The Mason-Dixon Tennessee Poll was conducted for the Memphis Commercial Appeal and Chattanooga Times Free Press by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research, Inc. of Washington, D.C. from September 25 through September 27, 2006. A total of 625 registered Tennessee voters were interviewed statewide by telephone. All stated they were likely to vote in the November general election.
Those interviewed were selected by the random variation of the last four digits of telephone numbers. A cross-section of exchanges was utilized in order to ensure an accurate reflection of the state. Quotas were assigned to reflect voter turn-out by county.
The margin for error, according to standards customarily used by statisticians, is no more than plus or minus 4 percentage points. This means that there is a 95 percent probability that the "true" figure would fall within that range if the entire population were sampled. The margin for error is higher for any subgroup, such as a regional or gender grouping.
SAMPLE FIGURES:
Men 306 (49%) Women 319 (51%)
Whites 527 (84%) Blacks 88 (14%) Other/Refused 10 (2%)
REGION
East Tennessee 230 interviews
Middle Tennessee 225 interviews
West Tennessee 170 interviews
PARTY
DEMOCRAT 34%
REPUBLICAN 38%
INDEPENDENT OR OTHER 28%
STATEWIDE NAME RECOGNITION
Do you have a favorable, unfavorable or neutral opinion of ________?
If the 2006 election for Tennessee’s U.S. Senate seat were held today, would you vote for: