Public Opinion Polling Basics
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Government considering changes ahead of 2030 census – including no more forms for most Americans
The bureau is considering counting most Americans using Social Security data, IRS files and other administrative records.
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Does public opinion polling about issues still work?
National polls like the Center’s come within a few percentage points, on average, of benchmarks from high response rate federal surveys.
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Why Pew Research Center typically can’t report the views of smaller U.S. religious groups
While the largest Christian traditions and religious “nones” can be consistently analyzed, smaller groups produce a large margin of error.
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Q&A: Why and how Pew Research Center conducted 66 focus groups with Asian Americans
This project represents our first comprehensive examination of Asian American identity using focus groups. Here’s how and why we did it.
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Q&A: How and why we surveyed Americans about their views on gender identity
The new survey covers topics such as whether the public thinks society is moving too quickly or not quickly enough on gender identity issues.
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Q&A: How and why Pew Research Center surveyed almost 12,000 U.S. journalists
Most of our research on the U.S. news environment has been from the viewpoint of the public, but this time we surveyed journalists themselves.
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Key facts about the quality of the 2020 census
The national total in the 2020 census was largely accurate, but the Census Bureau has estimated miscounts for some states and demographic groups.
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Q&A: How and why Pew Research Center studied Black Americans’ views of science
A new survey, along with a related series of focus groups, shows the many nuanced views Black Americans hold about science.
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Use our updated Global Indicators Database to explore survey findings from around the world
With new 2022 survey results just around the corner, here are five of the many insights from the newly added data available on the database.
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U.S. Hispanic population continued its geographic spread in the 2010s
The U.S. Hispanic population reached 62.1 million in 2020, an increase of 23% over the previous decade.
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Signature Reports
A Field Guide to Polling: Election 2020 Edition
While survey research in the United States is a year-round undertaking, the public’s focus on polling is never more intense than during the run-up to a presidential election.
Growing and Improving Pew Research Center’s American Trends Panel
Pew Research Center’s American Trends Panel (ATP) is now the Center’s principal source of data for U.S. public opinion research.
Comparing Survey Sampling Strategies: Random-Digit Dial vs. Voter Files
A new telephone survey experiment finds that an opinion poll drawn from a commercial voter file produces results similar to those from a sample based on random-digit dialing.
Are Telephone Polls Understating Support for Trump?
An experiment comparing responses to 27 questions fielded on both a telephone and a web survey found no significant mode differences in overall opinion about Trump or many of his signature policy positions.
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