Introducing pewmethods: An R package for working with survey data
Our new R package contains various functions that we use in our day-to-day survey work.
A behind-the-scenes blog about research methods at Pew Research Center.
For our latest findings, visit pewresearch.org.
Survey Methods
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Trends are a cornerstone of public opinion research. How do we continue to track changes in public opinion when there’s a shift in survey mode?
Mode differences present a challenge to analyzing trends over time. While these differences can vary, there are lessons to be learned.
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Using fixed and random effects models for panel data in Python
Identifying causal relationships from observational data is not easy. Still, researchers are often interested in examining the effects of policy changes.
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When the unexpected happens, what’s a survey researcher to do?
From weather events to snap elections, outside developments can sometimes disrupt surveys while they are in the field.
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How public and private Twitter users in the U.S. compare — and why it might matter for your research
Overall, our survey found that 13% of U.S. adult Twitter users keep their feeds private.
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Lessons learned from more than 20 years of asking about Americans’ online habits
We’ve been asking Americans about their online news habits since the mid-1990s. Since then, the ways people get news online have changed a lot — and so have the ways we ask about it.
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Using tidyverse tools with Pew Research Center survey data in R
I wrote an introductory blog post about how to access and analyze Pew Research Center survey data with R, a free, open-source software for statistical analysis. The post showed how to perform tasks using the survey package.
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Working with geography in survey data
Survey researchers frequently explore differences in public opinion by demographic group — how men’s views compare with those of women, for example, or how younger people compare with older people. Often, it’s also possible to look at differences by survey respondents’ geographic location. Yet, when geographic information is available in survey data, it’s not always […]
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What happens when a survey estimate doesn’t match a known benchmark
From time to time, data collected through surveys doesn’t match sources that are widely acknowledged as accurate.
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On a scale from 1 to 10, how much do the numbers used in survey scales really matter?
Understanding how the numeric labels on scales might influence survey responses is an area of ongoing investigation for researchers.
