U.S. House seats rarely flip to other party in special elections
Special elections to the U.S. House of Representatives tend to be low-turnout events, historically speaking, and seldom result in seats switching from one party to another.
Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
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Methods
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Few mode effects found when Americans are asked about their news consumption habits
A new analysis sheds light on concerns raised among pollsters that the medium by which a survey question is asked – its mode – can affect responses.
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Q&A: Pew Research Center’s president on key issues in U.S. polling
Read a Q&A with Michael Dimock, president of Pew Research Center, on recent developments in public opinion polling and what lies ahead.
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Trump’s nominees have already faced a large number of cloture votes
The president has been slow to nominate people to fill key posts, and most of those he has named have had to overcome the cloture hurdle before being confirmed.
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A third of Americans live in a household with three or more smartphones
The growing prevalence of cellphones comes as the typical American household now contains a wide range of connected devices.
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Public Divides Over Environmental Regulation and Energy Policy
Americans lean toward regulations – not economic markets alone – as the most effective way to increase reliance on renewable energy, but they are evenly split on whether fewer regulations can protect air and water.
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What Low Response Rates Mean for Telephone Surveys
Telephone polls still provide accurate data on a wide range of social, demographic and political variables, but some weaknesses persist.
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Methods 101: Random Sampling
The first video in Pew Research Center’s Methods 101 series helps explain random sampling – a concept that lies at the heart of all probability-based survey research – and why it’s important.
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How can a survey of 1,000 people tell you what the whole U.S. thinks?
The first video in our “Methods 101” series is about random sampling, a concept that undergirds all probability-based survey research. Here’s how it works.
