Political Science: Public Opinion: U.S.

This page lists print and online resources covering aspects of public opinion in the United States.

Public opinion, U.S.:

• American Association for Public Opinion Research.
  - The leading association of public opinion and survey research professionals.
• American National Election Studies. (ANES) 
  - A highly regarded source of data on the American electorate, ANES conducts surveys on voting, public opinion, and political participation, including pre-election and post-election surveys, time series studies, pilot studies (to test survey methodology) and panel studies of select respondents.
• American Public Opinion and US Foreign Policy Series. 
  - Quadrennial studies was designed to investigate the opinions and attitudes of the general public and opinion leaders on matters relating to United States foreign policy, from the Interuniversity Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR).
• General Social Survey. (GSS)
  - From the National Data Program for the Social Sciences (University of Chicago), GSS "contains a standard 'core' of demographic, behavioral, and attitudinal questions, plus topics of special interest," showing a "pulse" of nation data plus opportunities for time-trend studies.
• Huffington Post. Huffpost Pollster.
  - Known as Pollster.com before the Huffington Post bought it, the Huffpost Pollster aggregates and analyzes data from major polls.
• Marist Poll. 
  - From the Marist Institute for Public Opinion, a survey center at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York, the Marist Poll regularly measures public opinion at the local, state, and national level, covering a wide range of topics including politics, money, family, spirituality, entertainment, etc.
• Pew Research Center.  
  - As a nonpartisan "fact tank" that collects and disseminates information on the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world, the Pew Research Center supports seven research areas:
  • Politics & Policy.
    - Opinion research about American attitudes on politics and major policy issues and study the changing U.S. electorate by measuring long-term trends in political values and public policy priorities, as well as polling on the issues of the day.
  • News Habits & Media.
    - Assessing the state of news and information in a changing society, including how news is consumed, who is reporting it and how technology is shaping the information landscape. 
  • Internet & Technology.
    - Analysis of the social impact of digital technologies, and scientific research and innovation, with a focus on how science and technology changes affect families, communities, education, health care and medicine, civic and political life, and workers’ activities.
  • Religion.
    - To promote a deeper understanding of issues at the intersection of religion and public affairs in the U.S. and around the world, Pew's Religion public opinion surveys, demographic studies and other social science research look at the religious composition of countries, the influence of religion on politics, and the extent of government and social restrictions on religion, and views on abortion, same-sex marriage, stem cell research and many other topics. 
  • Hispanic/Latinos.
    - Research aimed at chronicling the diverse and changing lives of the U.S. Latino population and its impact on the nation, analyzing Latino attitudes and opinions on a range of social matters and public policy issues.
  • International Affairs.
    - International research on an array of subjects, ranging from people’s assessments of their own lives to their attitudes about the current state of the world.
  • Publications.
    - Analysis of the behaviors and attitudes of Americans in key realms of daily life, combining original public opinion research with economic and demographic analysis. In addition to surveying the general public, Pew conducts surveys of special populations, such as the Millennials, LGBT Americans, Asian Americans and veterans.
• Polling the Nations.
  ​[online resource; UCSB IP addresses only]
  - An online database of public opinion polls containing the full text of hundreds of thousands of questions and responses from thousands of surveys conducted  in the U.S. and 80 other countries. 
• PollingReport.com. 
  - "An independent, nonpartisan resource on trends in American public opinion," PollingReport.com includes results from surveys on American politics and policy, business and economy, national security, etc.
• Roper Center for Public Opinion Research.
  [online resource; UCSB IP addresses only] 
  - A leading archive of social science data, the Roper Center provides access to data from surveys of public opinion at a summary-level (aggregate data) and micro-level raw public opinion data. While Roper focuses strongly on United States public opinion, it also includes collections of European, Latin American, and Japanese polls.
  - Use the iPoll Databank to search for public opinion survey questions or Roper Express search for datasets.
  - You must create an individual login to gain full access to the features of this resource.