How the poll of boomers was conducted

WASHINGTON – The Associated Press-LifeGoesStrong.com poll on work and retirement was conducted March 4-13 and is based on interviews of 1,490 adults, including 1,160 baby boomers born between 1946 and 1964.

The national survey was conducted online by Knowledge Networks of Menlo Park, Calif., under the direction and supervision of the AP's polling unit.

Knowledge Networks initially contacted people using traditional telephone and mail polling methods and followed with an online interview. People chosen for the study who had no Internet access were given it for free. With a probability basis and coverage of people who otherwise couldn't access the Internet, the Knowledge Networks online surveys are nationally representative.

Results were weighted, or adjusted, to reflect the adult population by demographic factors such as age, sex, region, race and education.

No more than 1 time in 20 should chance variations in the sample cause the results to vary by more than plus or minus 4.3 percentage points from the answers that would be obtained if all adults in the U.S. were polled. The margin of sampling error for baby boomers is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

There are other, potentially greater, sources of variability in surveys, including the wording and order of the questions.

The questions and results for this poll are available at http://surveys.ap.org .