So the subject may come down to whether the controversial survey was a "push poll" or "message testing." And Western Wats isn't saying whether it played a role. "Confidentiality agreements prohibit us from commenting on specific projects and/or clients," the company's statement says.

Among the Nov. 11 survey's questions: Whether the residents knew Romney was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; were aware he was excused from military service for a church mission in France; and if they were familiar with an LDS Church doctrine that prohibited blacks from serving as church bishops into the 1970s.

Critics of the calls say it is not the questions' content that is raising eyebrows but the way in which they were worded, their context and the implications being made.

The calls were made from a telephone number with an 801-area code that has been traced to Western Wats in Utah. But the company isn't exclusively located in Utah.

"We have phone centers in several different states around Utah," Maccabee said. "We're located in primarily college towns."

Founded in 1986, Western Wats now provides about 2,000 full-time positions, Maccabee said, mostly as telephone surveyors.

"Only about 8 to 10 percent of our company revenues are from political work," Maccabee said. "We do market research for almost anything you can imagine, from dog food to high-tech equipment."

However, Western Wats has participated in some prestigious political campaigns, including Bob Dole's presidential run in 1996. Employees said that they painted Dole's GOP rival Steve Forbes as being pro-abortion.

Companies or candidates hire market research companies or political pollsters to formulate survey questions and determine who they want interviewed. Then they hire data-collection companies such as Western Wats to conduct the surveys.

Initially, the campaigns of John McCain and Rudy Giuliani were suspected of being behind the alleged push poll. But in some quarters, Romney's campaign is now a suspect, too. Some of those interviewed about the questions asked of them in Iowa and New Hampshire have links to the Romney campaign. And there are Romney's ties to Utah.

Both Romney and McCain have asked the New Hampshire attorney general to investigate the telephone surveys.

Complicated ties have been traced between the various campaigns and Western Wats:

• Giuliani's campaign finance reports show he is using a Virginia firm called the Tarrance Group, which has previously hired Western Wats to conduct surveys. Both Western Wats and the Tarrance Group have denied working together in the past month.

• The National Review linked family members of Western Wats founder Ron Lindorf to Romney's campaign activities. Lindorf and his family deny any connection. The family is no longer involved with Western Wats, now owned by a private equity firm based in Connecticut.