Methodological Research

The outbreak has dramatically changed Americans’ lives and relationships over the past year. We asked people to tell us about their experiences – good and bad – in living through this moment in history.

Given the errors in 2016 and 2020 election polling, how much should we trust polls that attempt to measure opinions on issues?

The 9-point fall in approval was the largest change between two Pew Research Center polls since Donald Trump took office.

Since the establishment of the ATP, the Center has gradually migrated away from telephone polling and toward online survey administration, and since early 2019, the Center has conducted most of its U.S. polling on the ATP. This shift has major implications for the way the Center measures trends in American religion – including those from the Center’s flagship Religious Landscape Studies, which were conducted by phone in 2007 and 2014.

The coronavirus outbreak inflicted disruptions on 2020 census operations, raising questions about how accurate the decennial count will be.

Eight-in-ten Americans say they don’t generally answer their cellphone when an unknown number calls, our survey found.

As news outlets morph and multiply, both surveys and passive data collection tools face challenges.

Many who follow polls are asking how these errors could happen. Here, we’ll take a preliminary shot at answering that question.

Data tables from interviews we conducted with verified voters after the 2016 and 2018 elections may help answer some election 2020 questions.

Polls can't predict the future. But they are the best tool to reveal the public’s priorities and values, and why people vote the way they do.