Public Opinion Polling Basics
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Methodological Research
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Why the U.S. census doesn’t ask Americans about their religion
The Census Bureau has collected data on Americans’ income, race, ethnicity, housing and other things, but it has never directly asked about their religion.
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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.
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.
Comparing Two Types of Online Survey Samples
Pew Research Center conducted a study to compare the accuracy of six online surveys of U.S. adults – three from probability-based panels and three from opt-in sources. On average, the absolute error on opt-in samples was about twice that of probability-based panels.
Q&A: What is the American Trends Panel, and how has it changed?
Members of the American Trends Panel can now take our surveys online or over the phone with an interviewer.
How Public Polling Has Changed in the 21st Century
A new study found that 61% of national pollsters used different methods in 2022 than in 2016. And last year, 17% of pollsters used multiple methods to sample or interview people – up from 2% in 2016.
