alfred politz papers - st. john's university · alfred politz papers 1942-1983 (bulk dates...

Alfred Politz Papers

1942-1983

(Bulk Dates 1942-1967)

MC 62

5.5 linear feet

(14 boxes, additional oversized material)

Processed by Roxana Hnateyko-Charkewycz, June 1991

Last updated by Alyse Hennig, November 2013

University Archives and Special Collections

St. John’s University St. Augustine Hall - Room B20

8000 Utopia Parkway

Jamaica, New York, 11439

Tel. (718) 990-1465

Fax (718) 990-2024

[email protected]

Alfred Politz Papers, 1942-1983

St. John’s University Archives and Special Collections

2

Provenance

Gift of Martha Politz, January 1990.

Abstract

This collection documents the career of Alfred Politz, founder of the market research company

Alfred Politz Research Incorporated (ARPI). He was known especially for developing new

techniques in polling and opinion analysis. The collection includes biographical and

autobiographical information, correspondence, speeches, news clippings, articles, research studies

and other published and unpublished material written by, or about, Alfred Politz and ARPI.

Biographical Note

Alfred Politz was born in Berlin on 6 July 1902. He attended the Institute of Physics, which was

part of Humbolt University in Berlin, where in 1924 at the age of 22 he earned a doctorate.

Afterward, according to Mr. Politz ("Highlights of My Biography"-- Box 1, Folder 1) he taught

physics and evening classes "for engineers who wanted to brush up on their math." In the 1930s he

started Alfred Politz Werbertung, a consulting firm that worked on the marketing of industrial

products. He was also involved in consumer advertising and market research that necessitated

frequent trips to Sweden.

In 1937, at the age of 35, Alfred Politz immigrated from Berlin to New York. Two years later he

succeeded in bringing his wife (then his fiancée) Martha Bruszat out of Germany. As in

Germany, he continued working in the field of advertising and research. He was first hired for a

research position with Roper Research Associates -- Elmo Roper was a well known public

opinion pollster. After three years of working his way to the position of study director, Mr. Politz

was hired away from Roper Research Associates to become research director at Compton

Advertising. The job lasted only eight months, when at the request of Procter & Gamble, their

biggest client, Mr. Politz was let go. Upon discharge, Richard Compton offered Mr. Politz free

space in the Compton offices and Alfred Politz Research Incorporated (APRI) was born. The

company included Martha as assistant, secretary, and typist, and Janet K. Elligett another ex-

Roper employee. Sucony-Vacuum Oil Company (now Mobil Corporation) was one of Mr.

Politz's first clients.

In 1949, APRI was awarded the Life study of magazine audience readership. Employing

techniques of probability sampling or precision sampling developed by Mr. Politz, the study

became a landmark in the field of market research. At the time, the common sampling procedure

in survey research was quota sampling, which was based on the assumption that if a sample is

stratified on a few known characteristics (sex, age, class ...), then the unknown automatically

reveals itself. Alfred Politz replaced quota sampling with probability sampling. He argued that

quota sampling, distorted by various unknown factors, did not reveal anything other than the

stratification of the quota. In order to make sure that unknown factors did not distort the sample,

it is necessary to arrive at a scientific way of reaching a truly "random" sample. His procedures

using probability sampling did not produce a random sample in the strictest sense of the word,



3

but were far closer to being random than quota sampling and much more desirable if data was to

be projected. In this sense probability sampling is a scientific method by which one reaches a

truly "random" group. Thereafter, Mr. Politz was considered by many to be the premier

magazine researcher in the US, conducting what were often pioneering, sometimes famous and

always expensive studies for magazines such as McCall's, The Saturday Evening Post, Redbook,

and Reader's Digest.

By 1959, a new central office in New York City was staffed by 220 persons, 85 of whom were

professionals in the disciplines of psychology, statistics, economics, and sociology. The field

staff consisted of 600 interviewers who worked exclusively for the Politz company and an

additional 600 nonexclusive interviewers. APRI conducted consumer and industrial research for

individual clients with the goal of improving the competitive position of their client's products or

services. It made recommendations for the introduction of new products or product changes, for

marketing methods, and for advertising policy. The recommendations were based upon surveys

designed to determine mechanical and psychological causes of consumers' and dealers' behavior.

Because of the nature of the work, APRI worked for only one client in each filed. Its client list

included at one time or another: Anheuser Busch, Colgate Palmolive, Chrysler, Dupont Florida

Citrus Commission, Rheingold Beer, Sears Roebuck & Company, United Fruit, and US Steel; as

well as retainer clients: Coca Cola, Seagrams, Mobil, Kimberly-Clark, and Brown and

Williamson.

For over two decades Mr. Politz played a key role in the growth of the market research industry,

winning several awards for his innovation in the sampling and assessing of public opinion and

tastes. Mr. Politz won the American Marketing Association's top leadership award in 1947 for

developing more scientific standards and better techniques in marketing research. He won the

Media-Scope magazine award in 1960 for creativeness and the magazine's award in 1963 for

creative media research. At the annual conference of the Advertising Research Foundation in

1976 he was honored as a founder of advertising research and cited as a sampling innovator.

Alfred Politz retired in 1967 when he sold APRI to Computer Science Corp., and moved to

Odessa, Florida. There he wrote long "think piece" articles for publications such as Advertising

Age, some of which were published as late as 1974. Mr. Politz died of cancer at the age of 80 on

8 November 1982 at his home in Odessa, Florida.

Scope and Content Note

The Alfred Politz Papers (1942-1982) document the career of opinion analyst Alfred Politz. The

bulk of the material falls into the period of his active career (1942-1967). The papers are

arranged in two series: I. Alfred Politz, and II. Alfred Politz Research Inc. (APRI). Materials that

were in poor condition were photocopied and the originals discarded.

Series I. Alfred Politz consists of three subseries: Personal, Works, and Publicity.The Personal

subseries contains biographical and autobiographical material, as well as the infamous 19 page

monograph mailed to 1,500 advertisers, agencies and media representatives in December 1961,

"Is Progress in Advertising Research Endangered by the Advertising Research Foundation?" The



4

Works subseries documents how Alfred Politz worked outside of his responsibilities as president

of APRI, speaking at engagements and writing articles. The Publicity subseries consists of

material collected by Alfred Politz about himself.

Series II. Alfred Politz Research Inc. (APRI) consists of two subseries: Studies and Publicity.

The Studies subseries is not all inclusive, but rather a sample of the type of product generated by

APRI. Information about specific studies may be found in numerous articles located in the

Publicity subseries. The Publicity subseries represents APRI's heyday during the 1950s when

revenues for the company grew from $2 million in 1955 to $3 million in 1956 to $3.5 million in

1957.

Organization

The collection is organized into two series:

Series I. Alfred Politz

A. Personal

B. Works

C. Publicity

Series II. Alfred Politz Research Inc. (APRI)

A. APRI Studies

B. APRI Publicity

Series Description

Series I.A. Alfred Politz - Personal, 1953-1977 (bulk 1972-1977).

0.6 linear feet (Box 1-2) (books-Box 14)

Arranged topically.

Included are biographical as well as autobiographical materials, drafts of an unpublished

monograph, materials relating to the film "The Founding Fathers of Advertising Research,"

correspondence relating to various awards received, and books. Books in the collection include

presentation copies, titles that include Alfred Politz as a contributor, and titles that cite Politz.

Series I.B. Alfred Politz - Works, 1942-1976 (bulk 1942-1963).

0.83 linear feet (Box 3-4)

Arranged chronologically.

Consists of speeches, articles, and papers written or presented by Alfred Politz.

Series I.C. Alfred Politz -- Publicity, 1945-1975.



Contains "publicity" Alfred Politz collected about himself and his company. Includes pamphlets,

articles and advertisements that may be found in various newspapers and the following

publications: Advertising Age, Broadcast, Newsweek, Printers’ Ink, and Tide.



5

Series II.A. Alfred Politz Research Inc. (APRI) Studies, 1944-1963.


Arranged alphabetically by sponsor or topic; chronologically within.

Consist of research studies by Alfred Politz Research Inc. for various clients/sponsors. Most are

bound volumes. Clients/Sponsors include: Brown and Williamson Tobacco Co., Con Edison,

Time/Life Inc., McCall's, The Saturday Evening Post, and the National Transportation Association.

Series II.B. Alfred Politz Research Inc. (APRI) - Publicity, 1954-1965



Publicity gathered by Burrelle's press clipping bureau about APRI, Alfred Politz, and all work

associated with either. Includes articles as well as advertisements. Some publicity associated

with Alfred Politz is duplicated in series I.C. Alfred Politz- Publicity, materials gathered by Mr.

Politz himself. Also included in this series is the publicity of the American Dairy Association (a

client) following the APRI publicity.

Container List

Series I. A. Alfred Politz – Personal

Box 1

Folder Title Date

1 Biographical 1972

2 Reminiscences of Alfred Politz 1972

3 Alfred Politz Book [not published], Outline, notes & drafts 1971-1973

4 Alfred Politz Book- unpublished material

5 Annotated draft of Alfred Politz Book, prepared by Nancy A. Leary November 1972

6 Draft sections of book – manuscript

7

"Is Progress in Advertising Research Endangered by the American

Research Foundation," (monograph) 1961

8 Dwight Eisenhower Correspondence - Photocopy 19551

9

"The Founding Fathers of Advertising Research," Advertising

Research Foundation 1976-1977

10

American Market Association Meeting, showing film, "The

Founding Fathers..." 1977

11

Correspondence and copies of "The Founding Fathers of

Advertising Research"

Box 2

Folder Title Date

1 A Few Facts About Alfred Politz Research, Inc. 1962

2 Clients (of APRI), (Coca-Cola, Mobil, US Steel) 1958- 1963

3

Correspondence (Darell Lucas, NC Gent), [original folder title -

Current and Pending] 1972-1974



6

4 Correspondence, RE: Advertising Hall of Fame 1974-1975

5 Transit Advertising Hall of Fame Award Ceremony 1977

6 Market Research Council - 1st Annual Award April-July1977

Series I. B. Alfred Politz - Works (papers/articles/speeches)

Box 3

Folder Title Date

1

"Method For Determining Number of Readers per Copy of

Magazine Circulation," Journal of Applied Psychology, [reprint] R.

Frazen, co-author.

2

"Family v. Individual in Measurement of Audiences," Journal of

American Statistical Association. June 1943

3 "Can an Advertiser Believe What Surveys Tell Him?" Printers' Ink.

4

"Can an Advertizer Believe What Mail Surveys Tell Him?"

Printers' Ink. June 20, 1947

"Measuring the Size of Spot Commercial Audiences," Printers' Ink. April 11, 1947

"How to Evaluate and Compare Advertising Media," Advertising &

Selling. April 1947

"Do Respondents Tell the Truth?" Advertising & Selling. May 1947

"A Critical Appraisal of Media Research," Advertising &Selling. June 1947

5 "The 1948 Election Forecast-- A Useful Disaster," Printers' Ink. November 12, 1948

6

"A Critical Appraisal of Media Research," pamphlet reprint of

series in Advertising & Selling. 1949

7

"An Attempt to Get the Not-At-Homes into the Sample without

Call Backs," Journal of American Statistical Association. March 1950

8

"Market and Opinion Surveys - Their Role in Industry & Society,"

Speech. October 1950

9 "Effective Market and Opinion Research," Address, Boston. October 21, 1952

10 ''Research and Prediction," The Advertiser's Digest. February 1953

"Research Should Not Scoff At the Advertiser's Hunches,"

Advertising Agency Magazine. May 1953

"On the Necessity to Present Consumer Preferences as Predictions,"

Journal of Marketing. July 1953

"Questionnaire Validity Through the Opinion Forming Question,"

Journal of Psychology. 1953

11

"Some Practical Ways to Increase the Sales Power of Your

Advertising Dollar," Speech, AMA Meeting. March 17, 1954

12

"Is a National Tourist Market Study Desirable?" Florida State

Chamber of Commerce, Advertising and Tourist Development

Division. June, 6, 1954

13 "New Motivation," Sales Executive Club. July 12, 1955

14

"What is Consumer Motivation Research? – An Appraisal," Boston

Conference on Distribution, Boston, Mass.

October 17-18,

1955



7

15

"Design and Success in Marketing Research," Harvard Business

Review. October 10, 1956

16

"Science and Truth in Marketing Research," Harvard Business

Review.

January-February

1957

17

"Ten Pitfalls in Marketing Research," Monthly Bulletin of Di Cyan

& Brown (Consulting Chemists). March 1957

18

"Motivation Research from a Research Point of View," Public

Opinion Quarterly. Winter 1956-1957

19

“A Research Program or Surveys?" Market Research Council, New

York City. April 12, 1957

20

"Market Research Evaluates Advertising -- Tools Used Today--

Plans For Tomorrow," Pharmaceutical Advertising Club (PAC),

New York City. May 27, 1958

Untitled, (Perception). September 1958

"Attraction and Distraction in Advertising," 3rd Annual Newspaper

ROP Color Conference. September 16, 1958

21

"The Underestimated Consumer -- A Research Man's Viewpoint,"

presented before the Association of National Advertisers, Hot

Springs, Virginia. November 11, 1958

22

"What Is It Essential To Know From Magazine Research?"

Media/scope, Annual Awards Issue. April 1959

23

"Does Today's Advertising Understand the Consumer?" 31st

Annual Boston Conference on Distribution. October 19, 1959

24

"Can Research Increase the Trustworthiness Through Elimination

of the Human Error?" International Congress of Outdoor

Advertising, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. July 12, 1960

25 "The Dilemma of Creative Advertising," Journal of Marketing. October 1960

26 "Media Performance vs. Copy Performance," Media/scope. November 1960

27

Is Progress in Advertising Research Endangered By The

Advertising Research Foundation. 1961

28

"Copy Performance Vs. Media Performance," (in Spanish) Impetu,

Buenos Aires, Argentina. 1961

29

"Dilemma of Creative Advertising," (in Swedish) Agenda,

Stockholm, Sweden. 1961

Box 4

Folder Title Date

1

"How Advertising Affects Attitudes and Buying Decisions," ANA

Advertising Evaluation Workshop. January 26, 1961

2

"Applying Research to the Determination of Advertising Value,"

ANA Spring Meeting, Washington, DC. April 18, 1961

3

"Analysis vs. Creativeness," 3rd Annual Marketing Conference,

Hanover, Indiana. October 5, 1961

4 "The Dilemma of Creative Advertising," (in Italian) Mercurio. October 1961



8

5

"The Relationship Between Research and Creativeness," Atlanta

AMA, Atlanta, Georgia. March 9, 1962

6

"Can Advertising Effect and Advertising Efficiency Be Measured

Before Advertising Being Placed Into Media?," Draft. May 5, 1962.

7 "Motivational vs. Statistical Research," Draft. May 5, 1962

8 "The Problem of Hard Sell," Draft. May 5, 1962

9

"The Effect of Advertising, It's Measurement and the Excess of

Power of Groups," Chicago AMA. September 13, 1962

10

"About Understanding Progress in Research," Association of Allied

and Medical Publications. October 3, 1962

11

"Copy Function and Product Performance," ANA Advanced

Advertising Management Course. March 14, 1963

12

"Advertising Budget, Copy and New Profit," Harvard Business

Review. April 1963

13

"The Study and Formation of Good Will," Pub1ic Utilities

Advertising Association, Tampa, Florida. May 10, 1963

14

"Politz Looks at Business Papers," Associated Business

Publications. June 13, 1963

15

"Case for the Complete Analysis of Audience Services," ARF

Conference. October 1, 1963

16

"Copy Function and Product Performance," ANA, Advanced

Advertising Management Course. March 10-15, 1963

17

"On the Theory of Product Testing," British-American Tobacco

Marketing Research Conference. October 22,1963

18

"The Effect of Advertising, It's Measurement and the Excess

Power of Groups," International Advertising Association. June 9, 1964

19

"Imaginative Use of Marketing Research in Strategy

Development," 7th Annual Marketing Strategy Conference, New

York, NY. October 10, 1967

20

"The Future of Marketing Research," AMA Special Chapter

Meeting. April 23, 1968

21 "Issues in Advertising," Issues in Advertising. February 27, 1973

22 "The Illusion of Image and the Excess Power of Large Groups." September 13, 1973

23

"Things to Know About Research and Excess Power of Large

Groups," Advertising Age. November 4, 1974

24 "Creativeness and Imagination," Journal of Advertising. Summer 1975

25

"Systematic Reduction of Advertising Affect – A Comment On

Imagination and Logic." April 1975

26

"The Function of Advertising and Its Measurements," Journal of

Advertising. 1975

27 Keynote Speech - New York. July 1, 1976



9

Series I. C. Alfred Politz – Publicity

Box 5

Folder Title Date

1 Alfred Politz – Publicity 1945









10 Alfred Politz – Publicity, Foreign – Norway 1953-1962







Box 6

Folder Title Date








8 Alfred Politz – Publicity (Business Week) 1974


10 Alfred Politz – Publicity (Advertising Age) 1980, 1983

Series II.A. Alfred Politz Research Inc. (APRI) Studies.

Box 7

Folder Title Date

1

Sponsor: Brown & Williamson Tobacco Co. "The Study and

Development of Advertising Guides" December 1962

2

Sponsor: Con Edison "A Study of Public Attitude Towards Con

Edison." November 1950



10

3 "Evaluation of Electional Methods." September 1944

4 Sponsor: Life "A Study of the Accumulative Audience of Life." 1950

5

Sponsor: Life "A Study of Four Media-- Their Accumulative and

Repeat Audiences." 1953

6

Sponsor: Life "A Study of Duplication" (based on the Study of

Four Media). 1954

7 Sponsor: Life "Study of Consumer Expenditures," Volume 1. 1957

8 Sponsor: Life "A Study of Consumer Expenditures," Volume 5. 1959

Box 8

Folder Title Date

1 Sponsor: McCall's' A Measurement of Effectiveness." 1962

2 Sponsor: McCall's "Female Audiences." n.d.

3 Media Studies/Audit. 1963

4 Sponsor: Mobil "Suggestions & Recommendation by APRI." 1961

5

Sponsor: Saturday Evening Post "The Readers of The Saturday

Evening Post." 1957

6 The Continuing Study of Transportation Advertising." 1946

Series II.B. Alfred Politz Research Inc. (APRI) – Publicity

Box 9

Folder Title Date

1 APRI Publicity

November-

December 1954

2 APRI Publicity

January-February

1956

3 APRI Publicity March-April 1956

4 APRI Publicity May 1956

5 APRI Publicity June 1956

6 APRI Publicity July-August 1956

7 APRI Publicity

September-October

1956

8 APRI Publicity

November-

December 1956

9 APRI Publicity

January-February

1957



Box 10

Folder Title Date






11


5 APRI Publicity September 1957

6 APRI Publicity October 1957

7 APRI Publicity

November-

December 1957

8 APRI Publicity

January-February

1958

9 APRI Publicity March 1958

10 APRI Publicity April 1958

Box 11

Folder Title Date



3 APRI Publicity

January-February

1959


5 APRI Publicity May-June 1959


7 APRI Publicity

September-October

1959

8 APRI Publicity

November-

December 1959

9 APRI Publicity January 1960

10 APRI Publicity June-July 1960

11 APRI Publicity

September-October

1960


13 APRI Publicity

September-October

1961

Box 12

Folder Title Date

1 APRI Publicity

November-

December 1961

2 APRI Publicity

January-February

1962


4 APRI Publicity May-June 1962



7 APRI Publicity July 1963



12

8 APRI Publicity

August-September

1963

9 APRI Publicity October 1963

10 APRI Publicity November 1963

11 APRI Publicity December 1963


13 APRI Publicity February 1964


Box 13

Folder Title Date




4 APRI Publicity July 1964


6 APRI Publicity February 1965



Box 14

Books Title Date

Editors of Fortune, The Amazing Advertising Business. New York:

Simon and Schuster. 1957

Halsman, Philippe, Philippe Halsman's Jump Book. New York:

Simon and Schuster. 1958

Honomichl, Jack J., Honomichl on Marketing Research.

Lincolnwood, Illinois: NTC Business Books. 1986

Honomichl, Jack J., Marketing/Research People. Chicago, Illinois:

Crain Books. 1984

Hopkins, Claude, Scientific Advertising. New York: Moore

Publishing. 1952

Issues in Advertising, ed. Robert Karp. New York: MSS

Information Agency. 1972

Sherwood Dodge: He Spoke for All of Us. New York: Advertising

Research Foundation. 1971

Oversized Title Date

Advertising Age. (I.C. Alfred Politz Publicity; Box 6, folder 10) October 31, 1983

A Study of Four Media. (II.A. Alfred Politz Research Inc. (APRI) -

Studies; Box 7, folder 5) June 1953

alfred politz papers - st. john's university · alfred politz papers 1942-1983 (bulk dates...

Documents