Public Opinion Polling Basics
By the end of our free, five-lesson course, you will know why we have polls, what the different kinds of polls are, how polling works and what you should look for in a poll.
Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
Survey Methods
Who Are You? The Art and Science of Measuring Identity
As a shop that studies human behavior through surveys and other social scientific techniques, we have a good line of sight into the contradictory nature of human preferences. Here’s a look at how we categorize our survey participants in ways that enhance our understanding of how people think and behave.
How Pew Research Center Uses Its National Public Opinion Reference Survey (NPORS)
In 2020, Pew Research Center launched a new project called the National Public Opinion Reference Survey (NPORS). NPORS is an annual, cross-sectional survey of U.S. adults. Respondents can answer either by paper or online, and they are selected using address-based sampling from the United States Postal Service’s computerized delivery sequence file.
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The coronavirus pandemic’s impact on Pew Research Center’s global polling
Our response to the pandemic has included the difficult decision to suspend much of our international survey work until further notice.
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American News Pathways Methodology
Data in the American News Pathways project is drawn from The American Trends Panel, a nationally representative panel of randomly selected U.S. adults. Read for more information about this survey’s methodology.
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Assessing the Risks to Online Polls From Bogus Respondents
While the growth of online interviewing is a prominent trend in polling, there is variation within that trend in how researchers recruit respondents. This study finds that sourcing affects data quality.
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Q&A: How and why we studied online dating in the U.S.
Monica Anderson, associate director of internet and technology research, speaks about our latest report on the world of online dating.
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Q&A: How Pew Research Center evaluated Americans’ trust in 30 news sources
Our director of journalism studies explains how we determined what media outlets Americans turn to and trust for their political news.
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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.
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Why survey estimates of the number of Americans online don’t always agree
How many U.S. adults use the internet? There are a lot of sources with answers to this question. Yet these different sources can be tricky to reconcile.
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Methods 101: How is polling done around the world?
Polling in different parts of the world can be very challenging, because what works in one country may not work in a different country.
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How is polling done around the world?
The Center conducts polls in many countries other than the U.S. – but the methodology behind our international surveys can vary.
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When Online Survey Respondents Only ‘Select Some That Apply’
when designing an online survey questionnaire, there is more than one way to ask a respondent to select which options in a series applies to them.
