Which term refers to the discrepancy between poll results and election results due to voters providing socially desirable responses?

• A. Bradley effect
• B. Push polling
• C. Sampling error
• D. Bandwagon effect

Answer: (A)

Social desirability bias in polling can create a gap between what people say in surveys and how they actually vote. This phenomenon is captured by the Bradley effect, named after the 1982 Los Angeles mayoral race, where polls suggested strong support for Tom Bradley but the election results did not match those preferences. Voters who wanted to appear non-prejudiced would report intending to vote for him in interviews, yet many ended up voting for his opponent in the privacy of the ballot, producing poll estimates that overrepresented support for the candidate perceived as the reformist or non-racist choice. The other options describe different polling issues: push polling aims to sway opinions rather than measure them; sampling error is random error from not perfectly representing the population; and the bandwagon effect involves people switching to the perceived leader, not misreporting intentions.