GOVT 4000/6223 (Fall 2024): Inequality and the Welfare State: Polls and Surveys

"Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. We conduct public opinion polling, demographic research, content analysis and other data-driven social science research." [About Pew Research Center]

Gallup.com provides articles that summarize the results of recent, selected polling data. Includes some international polling.
The full reports are available by "subscribing" (filling out a request form). See also: Gallup Analytics, below.

Allows users to access Gallup's U.S. Daily tracking, World Poll, and Gallup Social Series data to compare residents' responses region by region and nation by nation to questions on topics such as economic conditions, government and business, health and wellbeing, infrastructure, and education.

Datasets from opinion polls conducted around the world. and iPoll, below, an online database of public opinion, organized at the question-level, from a wide variety of polling organizations.

A full-text retrieval system, the iPOLL online database is organized at the question level, providing the tools to sift through nearly a half million questions asked on national public opinion surveys since 1935 and updated daily.

Data Highlights > Elections and Presidents
Exit polling data is collected by Edison Research, a market research and polling firm and purchased by major news networks for their forecasts. The Roper Center’s collection holds all U.S. major media exit polls dating back to the first in 1972, spearheaded by innovator Warren Mitofsky, as well as thousands of datasets from major pre- and post-election polls in the U.S.
See also:
Exit Polls: Surveying the American Electorate,1927-2010. Washington, DC: SAGE Publications Ltd. 2012
(Olin Reference, JK 2007.B47 2012+)
Authors Samuel J. Best and Brian S. Krueger - both election commentators for CBS news and statistical experts - present more than 100 tables and 100 figures showing the changes in the electorate and its voting patterns over time.

"Since 1965, the Odum Institute has operated the Louis Harris Data Center, the national depository for publicly available survey data collected by Louis Harris and Associates, Inc. More than 1,000 Harris polls from as early as 1958 are archived at the Center and contain over 160,000 questions asked of more than 1,200,000 respondents. Respondent groups range from national cross-section samples to such special populations as Vietnam veterans, Hispanics, teenagers, and the elderly. The surveys also cover a diverse range of topics, such as aging, environmental issues, leisure and the arts, business, foreign affairs, presidential ratings, health care, attitudes toward government, and crime. Many questions have been repeated over time, allowing researchers to track changes in opinions and attitudes."

Includes reports with survey data.

Silver Spring, MD: ORS.
Polls taken on a variety of subjects all over the world from 1986 to the present. Each record in the database consists of one poll question and the participants' responses. Records are indexed in one of more than 5,000 topics and six search fields: subject matter, question text, universe, date, polling organization and response categories. Other information provided includes: source name and contact information, sample size, and notes on the sample population. Partially supersedes American Public Opinion Index and American Public Opinion Data [microfiche].

A list of studies available from Roper, by country.

Reports that summarize opinion data. In partnership with the International Institutions and Global Governance program at the Council on Foreign Relations, WorldOpinion.org consolidates global and U.S. public opinion covering ten major issue areas: elements of world order, international institutions, violent conflict, terrorism, nuclear proliferation, climate change, energy security, the global economy, economic development, and human rights.

"contains ... data sets from 39 African countries going back to 1999. Search by country, survey question, and survey round. "You can compare individual countries and regions, or get the continental view on the topics of your choice. You can slice and dice the data by gender, age, education level, and other demographic variables. You can identify trends over time. You can also create your own graphs and tables and export them in multiple formats."

2 waves -- 2001-2003, 2005-2008.
Select the study,
Select a a single country or multiple countries,
Select a question (variable) by clicking on the link (for example, gender of respondent). This opens up the online analysis tool,
Select Cross-tabs,
Use the arrows to page through the different variables that can be analyzed.

Latin America Public Opinion Project
Requires the use of data analysis software (Stata or SPSS) and some understanding of statistical analysis methods.
Datasets of surveys of democratic public opinion and behavior in the Americas using national probability samples of voting-age adults. Note: You can find some prepared reports under the Spotlights series.

Offers data sets for analysis. Also offers prepared reports and fact sheets based on the survey results. To find the prepared reports, go to the "Standard Eurobarometer" page and scroll down under "Attachments."

The ESS Data Download Wizard gives access to cumulative data from countries that have been included in the integrated ESS files in two or more rounds, and all variables from questions that have been asked in more than one round. Note: You must register to use the wizard.

Different topics covered each year, but hasn't been updated in some years. It may still provide an interesting point-in-time understanding:

• 2007 - Leisure Time and Sports
• 2005 - Work Orientations III
• 2004 - Citizenship
• 2003 - National Identity II
• 2002 - Family III
• 2001 - Social networks II
• 2000 - Environment II
• 1999 - Social Inequality III
• 1998 - Religion II

Select a question (variable) by clicking on the link (for example, gender of respondent). This opens up the online analysis tool.
--Select Cross-tabs.
--Use the arrows to page through the different variables that can be analyzed.

Beginning in 1981, conducted in successive waves.
A.- Perceptions of life
B.- Environment
C.- Work
D.- Family
E.- Politics and Society
F.- Religion and Morale
G.- National Identity
S.- Structure of the file
X.- Socio-demographics
Y.- Special Indexes
Search tips: On the left-hand menu, select Online Data Analysis. "You may browse the variable index and see question texts, frequencies for each answer, crosstabs of each question by country or any other variable, and even graphics."
You can also check under Findings & Insights for summaries of some of the findings.