U.S. Survey Methods Team

Pew Research Center’s survey methodologists manage the Center’s American Trends Panel and provide guidance for all of the Center’s domestic public opinion research to ensure it meets the highest standards. We search for ways to expand and strengthen the Center’s survey practices, explore alternative methods of measuring public opinion and conduct experimental research with the goal of improving survey quality.

Major reports have examined the state of U.S. polling, data quality of online surveys, the use of voter files in public opinion research and the consequences of low response rates in polls. The Methods team also tries to act as a leader in the wider polling industry, and educates the public and journalists about polling best practices through our Methods 101 video series, our #MethodsMondays series on Instagram and our behind-the-scenes methodology blog, Decoded, and our email mini-course about polling. We are proud that the Center is a charter member of the American Association for Public Opinion Research’s Transparency Initiative.

Signature Publications

report | Apr 19, 2023

How Public Polling Has Changed in the 21st Century

A new study found that 61% of national pollsters used different methods in 2022 than in 2016. And last year, 17% of pollsters used multiple methods to sample or interview people – up from 2% in 2016.

report | Mar 2, 2021

What 2020’s Election Poll Errors Tell Us About the Accuracy of Issue Polling

Given the errors in 2016 and 2020 election polling, how much should we trust polls that attempt to measure opinions on issues?

report | Sep 8, 2020

Democrats Made Gains From Multiple Sources in 2018 Midterm Victories

Our analysis of verified voters examines what 2016 voters and nonvoters did in the 2018 midterm elections and offers a detailed portrait of the demographic composition and vote choices of the 2018 electorate.

WHERE YOU CAN FIND OUR WORK