Research Methods

ReportFebruary 18, 2020

More than 80% of the public polls used to track key indicators of U.S. public opinion, such as the President’s approval rating or support for Democratic presidential candidates, are conducted using online opt-in polling.1 A new study by Pew Research Center finds that online polls conducted with widely-used opt-in sources contain small but measurable shares […]

Fact TankDecember 30, 2019

Our graphics team creates hundreds of charts, maps and other data visualizations every year. Here are some of our favorite graphics of 2019.

Fact TankDecember 16, 2019

Dennis Quinn, computational social scientist, explains how our analysis of sermons came together and the challenges that arise when religion meets big data.

ReportDecember 12, 2019

An exploration of more than 50 Pew Research Center surveys confirms the overwhelming impact party identification has on Americans’ trust in the news media. And divides emerge within party – particularly the Republican Party – based on how strongly people approve of Trump.

Fact TankOctober 25, 2019

While the notion that polls should include equal numbers of Republicans and Democrats makes some sense, it’s based on a misunderstanding of what polling is intended to do.

Fact TankOctober 22, 2019

Researchers are learning more about early political socialization. Emerging techniques to fight misinformation are seeing some success.

FeatureSeptember 5, 2019

This essay on the lessons we learned about deep learning systems and gender recognition is one part of a three-part examination of issues relating to machine vision technology.

Fact TankSeptember 3, 2019

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.

Fact TankAugust 26, 2019

We explored how Americans feel about the tenor of debate in the country in a recent major survey about U.S. political disource. Here's how we did it.

Fact TankJuly 16, 2019

The Center conducts polls in many countries other than the U.S. – but the methodology behind our international surveys can vary.

Research Methods

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