Commercial Voter Files and the Study of U.S. Politics
A new analysis demystifies voter files, the widely-used and comprehensive digital databases used to better understand the U.S. electorate.
Q&A: The growing use of ‘voter files’ in studying the U.S. electorate
Read a Q&A with Pew Research Center’s Ruth Igielnik and Scott Keeter about a recent study about voter files.
Use of election forecasts in campaign coverage can confuse voters and may lower turnout
Probability forecasts have gained prominence in recent years. But these forecasts may confuse potential voters and may even lower the likelihood that they vote.
For Weighting Online Opt-In Samples, What Matters Most?
A growing share of polling is conducted with online opt-in, or nonprobability, samples. This trend has raised some concern within the industry because, while low participation rates pose a challenge for all surveys, the online opt-in variety face additional hurdles.
Public Opinion Research in Sub-Saharan Africa
Pew Research Center hosted a survey methodology workshop on the opportunities and challenges of conducting public opinion research in sub-Saharan Africa to identify and discuss best practices and future directions for the field.
First-time internet users: Who they are and what they do when they get online
Having access to the internet did not lead to more online exploration for some new internet users, and some had difficulties with the tablets.
Our Response to Concerns Raised About Our Analysis of the FCC’s Net Neutrality Public Comments
By Lee Rainie Pew Research Center released a report on Nov. 29 analyzing the 21.7 million comments submitted online during the U.S. Federal Communications Commission’s open public comment period on net neutrality. Fight for the Future has raised concerns about some aspects of our report, two of which point out inaccuracies that do not change […]
Q&A: The challenges of estimating the size of Europe’s Muslim population
Read a Q&A with Conrad Hackett, associate director of research and senior demographer at Pew Research Center, on estimating the European Muslim population.
Many poll respondents guess wrong on their interviewer’s race or ethnicity
Establishing the interviewer’s perceived race or ethnicity is essential to understanding how it might affect the respondent’s answers to survey questions.
How Pew Research Center surveyed 1,000 U.S. Muslims
In a short video, Pew Research Center researchers explain how they produced the Center’s wide-ranging new survey of 1,001 American Muslims.
