Public Opinion Assignment
A. Public Opinion Key Terms
B. What If…. Students were required to pass a National Civics Exam? Read/Assess/React
C. What is Public Opinion? Define/Explanation/Elaborate
D. How is Public Opinion formed????
E. Political Preferences and Voting Behavior
F. Measuring Public Opinion (Examining Polling)
G. Technology and Opinion Polls (Methods, Advantages/Disadvantages, etc.)
H. Public Opinion and the Political Process
I. Read Making a Difference: Being a Critical Consumer of Opinion Polls (Assess/React)
Public Opinion Assignment
A. Public Opinion Key Terms
B. What If…. Students were required to pass a National Civics Exam? Read/Assess/React
C. What is Public Opinion? Define/Explanation/Elaborate
D. How is Public Opinion formed????
E. Political Preferences and Voting Behavior
F. Measuring Public Opinion (Examining Polling)
G. Technology and Opinion Polls (Methods, Advantages/Disadvantages, etc.)
H. Public Opinion and the Political Process
I. Read Making a Difference: Being a Critical Consumer of Opinion Polls (Assess/React)
Opinion Polls
(Website Links)
Polling Report - Collection of U.S. political polls from around the country.Updated when new polls are released. Data are from national surveys of the American public. Issues polls and articles by leading pollsters are available to subscribers.Real Clear Politics - Collection of up-to-date political news from around the web. Large selection of polls for political races divided into Issues races or position races.
Political Polls - The Washington Post's directory for historical national political polls. The Data Directory is a guide to public opinion data published on the Internet by nonpartisan organizations.
Gallup Poll - Political polls & a directory for hundreds of other polls. The organization has studied human nature & behavior for over 70 years & employs many of the world's leading scientists in management, economics, psychology & sociology.
Buzz Dash - Tool for gauging popular opinion on a wide range of topics - from sports, movies and politics to relationships and philosophy. A real-time forum where people can solicit, measure & share opinions on nearly any issue. View real-time popular opinion on a range of timely issues. Express opinions by voting or commenting on individual issues. Post individual buzzbites to personal web pages, blogs or emails.
Zogby - Offers their polling service as well as free recent polls with analysis. Zogby International has been tracking public opinion since 1984 in North America, Latin America, the Middle East, Asia, and Europe.
Rasmussen Reports - Updated Presidential Job Approval Ratings daily & polls every Senate & Governor's race constantly. Was the nation's most accurate polling firm during the Presidential election & the only one to project both Bush & Kerry's vote total within half a percentage point of the actual outcome.Political Polls - A information directory for political polls. Divided into: Polling Organizations, Recent Polls, Polling News, Polling Methodology, Truth About Bogus Polls, Push Polls & Polling Analysis.
USA Election Polls - A collection of thousands of polls, analysis, and up-to-date candidate information.
The Cook Political Report - Founded in 1984, The Cook Political Report is an independent, non-partisan newsletter that analyzes elections and campaigns for the US House of Representatives, US Senate, Governors and President as well as American political trends. Includes: A complete listing of every potential candidate for the U.S. House, Senate and Governor.
National Opinion Surveys
American National Election Studies
Conducted biennially since 1952, the survey gauges public sentiment on the political process, the role of government, and social and economic issues. This site permits download of the ANES datasets, most of which are also available through ICPSR and CISER.
American Public Opinion and U.S. Foreign Policy
Conducted on behalf of the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations, it measures the concerns of Americans regarding economic, political, and military engagement in foreign affairs. Conducted every four years from 1974 to 2002 and now biennially, fulltext reports results are accessible on the site. Recent years incorporate parallel surveys in EU countries, Mexico, and Korea. The 2006 survey included representative polls of China and India. Most years can be obtained as numeric files from ICPSR and CISER.
Gallup Organization
Recent political and economic polling results, as well as "special reports" that examine attitudes toward social issues and consumer behavior. Some multinational studies are included. (Olin Library owns the Gallup Poll Monthly in electronic and hardcopy.) Codebooks and datasets for many Gallup polls are available from the RoperCenter for Public Opinion Research site (see separate entry below). GallupBrain is a question bank that allows searching for survey questions in over 70 years of Gallup polls. Cornell doesn't subscribe so you can't view response frequencies, but GallupBrain is a useful tool if you're looking for question wording.
General Social Survey
The GSS has been conducted since 1972 by the NationalOpinionResearchCenter. It measures attitudes toward social and public policy issues, economic status, political events, work, and family life. Some questions are asked each year, and topical modules are administered on a rotating basis that focus on current topics such as gender equity, religious beliefs, and perception of work. The 1972-2006 file was released in May 2007.
The Survey Documentation and Analysis (SDA) software at UC Berkeley allows you to construct tables from the 1972-2006 cumulative file based on variables you select, perform custom extracts, and create and recode variables. The NORC site has a similar data analysis tool using the NESSTAR software. You can use recent GSS years from the Association of Religion Data Archives, view responses to individual questions crosstabulated by respondent categories, and view frequencies using spiffy graphics. (CISER has the GSS data files on its server.)
iPOLL, RoperCenter for Public Opinion Research Cornell users only
Although the database is compiled by the RoperCenter, it contains questions from polls conducted by other U.S. organizations such as Harris, Gallup, NationalOpinionResearchCenter, and major news establishments, some back to 1936. The questions often contain response frequencies, sometimes broken down by respondents' demographics.
iPOLL is accessible to Cornell users from the RoperCenter iPOLL site; use this link for off-campus access. See CISER's RoperCentermembership page for more information on iPOLL and other Roper services.
Maxwell Poll, SyracuseUniversity
A national sample poll of households in the continental United States and conducted annual since 2004 by the Campbell Public Affairs Institute. Its focus is on individual civic engagement and perceptions of economic inequality . Download the microdata in Excel, SAS, and SPSS formats.
National Opinion Research Center
NORC conducts survey research on public policy issues for a variety of agencies and corporations. See the "Projects" section for copies of recent surveys and their reports. NORC also conducts the General Social Survey (see above).
Odum Institute for Research in Social Science, University of North Carolina
The Public Opinion Poll Question Database contains approximately 200,000 questions from surveys conducted since 1958, searchable by keyword or phrase. Questions are derived from the Louis Harris polls and state-level polling organizations from 22 states, with strong coverage of Southern states.
Pew Research Center for the People and the Press
An "independent opinion research group that studies attitudes toward press, politics and public policy issues." Contains summaries of results, comparisons of how attitudes change over time, copies of questionnaires, and descriptions of survey methodologies. Some summaries have response frequency tables with demographic breakdowns. From the header bar, select Survey Reports for summaries and related questionnaires going back to 1997. Select Datasets to download datasets in zip format; each zip archive consists of a datafile, layout, and questionnaire. A terrific site. See also the links to other Pew Research sites with survey data, including the Global Attitudes Project, Internet and American Life Project, and the Pew Hispanic Center.
Poll Track Cornell users only
Poll Track brings together recent and historical polls conducted on national issues by many organizations, with emphasis on politics and campaigns. The search feature pinpoints polls and questions on specific topics. Produced by the National Journal.
Polling Report
Publishes results of questions from surveys conducted by major polling organizations. You can search for specific topics or browse under broad categories (Politics and Policy, Business/Economy, American Scene, National Barometer). Information on the original survey, sample size, and frequencies accompanies each question. Find out popular opinions on elected officials at the national and state levels, consumer attitudes on economic conditions, and views about popular culture. (Yes, most people polled believe that Elvis is dead.)
Polling the Nations Cornell users only
This source compiles questions from over 14,000 polls, including those conducted by national, regional, and local survey organizations, both for profit and not-for-profit. Coverage is from 1986 forward and includes non-US surveys such as those in the Eurobarometer series. Search many fields by keywords or phrases (poll title, question text, subject headings, survey participants), and all the questions from one survey can be retrieved by using advanced search techniques. Response frequencies are included but with no demographic breakdowns.
Public Agenda
A nonpartisan opinion research organization that reports surveys conducted by national firms on public policy issues. Especially strong coverage of quality of life and social issues; for example, race relations, health care, privacy, drug abuse, crime, the environment, and immigration. Great graphs and tables, and cautionary notes about question wordings, the timing of the featured polls, and margins of error. A swell site.
Roper Center for Public Opinion Research
Located at the University of Connecticut, the Roper Center collects, disseminates, and distributes information about public opinion surveys and maintains an archive of over 10,000 data sets of American and foreign surveys. It also has a significant number of historical polls from the World War II period. CISER maintains a RoperCenter membership on behalf of the CornellUniversity community. Benefits include the ability to download datasets directly through the Roper Express service and use of the iPOLL database; see this page for more information.
Science and Engineering Indicators, National Science Foundation
Includes information on public attitudes toward scientific research and its impact. Questions are excerpted from such many surveys, including the General Social Survey and NSF Survey of Public Attitudes. The Science and Engineering Indicators reports in their entirety can be viewed in html and PDF formats. Reports online include 1993, 1996, 2000, 2002, 2004, and 2006. Chapter 7 generally contains information specific to public attitudes and understanding of science, although there is also a searchable index for most years.
Washington Post Poll Vault
The results of selected Post polls since 1997. Most represent nationwide samples on national issues, others are on topics of regional interest. A brief article summarizes each poll. For most, question responses are broken down by demographics and have links to previous polls with similar questions. Using the "Polls" link in the left sidebar requires a registration process, but the "Find a Question" option does not.
Sites with a State or Regional Emphasis
Northeast
Center for Politics and Public Affairs, FranklinMarshallCollege
Conducts the Keystone Poll of registered voters in Pennsylvania and focuses on opinions toward officeseekers and public-policy issues. (The Keystone Poll was previously affiliated with MillersvilleUniversity.)
Center for Survey Research, StateUniversity of New York, Stony Brook
The Center conducts surveys based on national, New YorkState, and Long Island area samples. Most surveys are described briefly, but summaries of a few recent ones (notably, the recent Health Pulse of America surveys) include detailed results at the question level. Some Health Pulse of America datasets are available from the RoperCenter for Public Opinion Research.
The Eagleton Poll, Scholarly CommunicationCenter, RutgersUniversity
Although emphasis is on voting behavior, some surveys measure attitudes toward economic, social, and political priorities. Geographic focus on New Jersey. Surveys from 1971+ are included.
Empire State Poll, Survey Research Institute, CornellUniversity
Conducted annually since 2003, the focus of ESP is issues of interest to New YorkState residents. This site contains survey summaries, questionnaires, and methodology reports.
Marist Institute for Public Opinion
Especially good source of surveys on issues specific to New YorkState and New York City.
Polling Institute, QuinnipiacUniversity
Results of polls focusing on issues in New York State, New York City, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania, with emphasis on political opinion surveys.
PublicMind Poll, FairleighDickinsonUniversity
Conducted since 2001, PublicMind tends to focus on state-specific issues in New Jersey and Delaware. Between 15 and 30 targeted polls are produced each year. Some summaries in English and Spanish. Survey data can't be downloaded, but most poll results are represented by detailed response tables and related graphics on the site.
Siena Research Institute, SienaCollege
SRI conducts polls on topics of public policy interest, including education, health care, and consumer confidence. Its focus is on New YorkState, and specifically the Capital District region. Textual summaries are often followed by detailed tables summarizing results by respondent demographics. Be aware that titles listed on the Recent Surveys and Polls and Archives pages don't reflect all of the surveys undertaken by the Institute. See also pages for the (archived) Siena New York Poll and the SRI Political Poll.
Taubman Center for Public Policy and American Institutions, BrownUniversity
Sponsors the Brown University Survey that focuses on Rhode Island politics, attitudes toward economic development, and other public policy issues.
University of New Hampshire Survey Center
Home of the Granite State Poll of New Hampshire residents. Poll results are represented by detailed press releases or reports in PDF format.
Zogby International
In addition to polls on national issues, Zogby contains information on polls of particular interest to New Yorkers. You can search for terms or names with the search engine, although many poll results are summarized within its news and latest results sections. A poll focusing on upstate New York is a joint effort of Zogby and ColgateUniversity. Use the Zogby site for snippets focusing on Upstate issues, and try to ignore its ubiquitous self-promotional sound bites.
Southeast
Arkansas Poll, BlairCenter for the Study of Southern Politics and Society, University of Arkansas
An annual poll begun in 1999, it addresses public policy issues at the state and national levels as well as attitudes toward ballot initiatives. Extensive summary reports, documentation and methodology files, and data downloads in SPSS and SAS formats.
Institute for Public Opinion Research, FloridaInternationalUniversity
Conducts the annual FIU/Florida Polls on the quality of life for Floridians, as well as other surveys on topics specific to the Southeast. With the FIU Cuban Research Institute, it also conducts the occasional Cuba Poll of Cuban Americans residing in the Miami area.
Survey and Evaluation Research Laboratory, VirginiaCommonwealthUniversity
Home of several polls, including the Commonwealth Poll, (attitudes towards political candidates and election issues), the Commonwealth Education Poll, and the VCU Life Sciences Survey (a national poll on ethical and public policy implications of scientific discovery). (As of early 2006, the Commonwealth Poll appears to be defunct.)
Virginia Tech Center for Survey Research
Home of the annual Quality of Life in Virginia survey.
Midwest
Office of Survey Research , Institute for Public Policy and Social Research, MichiganStateUniversity
Since 1994, IPPSR has conducted the quarterly State of the State poll of Michigan residents. The site's Data on Demand function is slick beyond words. It permits online analysis of results, access to printed reports and documentation, and the ability to download datasets in SPSS format.
Public Opinion Laboratory, IndianaUniversity - PurdueUniversity, Indianapolis
A survey research facility that also functions as a learning lab for students. It polls Hoosier attitudes on crime, the State's lottery, race relations, underage drinking--and basketball. Most of the findings available online are limited to election poll results and surveys on charitable giving conducted in cooperation with the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University.
Survey Research Center, University of Cincinnati
Home of the Ohio Poll and the Greater Cincinnati Survey.
University of Wisconsin Survey Center
Home of the Badger Poll of Wisconsin residents. Begun in 2002, it asks opinions about national- and state-level issues. Badger Poll datasets are archived by the UW Data & Information Services Center.
West
Field (California) Poll
California registered voters are polled for their opinions on electoral issues, statewide referenda, economic affairs, and other public policy topics. A searchable index to codebook contents, 1979 to date, is hosted at UC San Diego. Field Poll datasets are available for public FTP from UC Berkeley.
Los Angeles Times Polls Index
Summarizes polls back to 1996 conducted on the national or on the state or local level in California. Poll StatSheets (in PDF) go back to 1996 and each "contains the full question wording and sequence, current and past results (trend) for each question and a description of the survey methodology." Strong focus on California political, social, and economic issues. Some poll summaries require free registration, but the StatSheets have no registration requirement.