Pew Research Center (“the Center”) is a non-partisan fact tank whose mission is to generate a foundation of facts that enriches the public dialogue and supports sound decision-making. As part of this mission to inform the public about the issues, attitudes, and trends shaping the United States and the world, the Center engages in public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research.
To ensure that the results of our polling and research activities are as scientific and as accurate as possible, it is critical that our methods use representative samples. Our survey panel recruitment uses random, national sampling from the U.S. Postal Service’s list of residential addresses. Center telephone surveys sample both landline and cellphone numbers. The Center appreciates the importance of complying with applicable laws and regulatory requirements, which in some circumstances limit the manner or form of communications with individuals whom we seek to contact for polling purposes. We strive to ensure the scientific accuracy of our polling methods while, at the same time, complying with applicable laws, including requirements under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”). Our policy and practice is to comply with the TCPA by using only manually dialed calls to cellphones, and we require our vendors to do the same. In addition, the telephones used for this purpose are stand-alone devices that are not connected to other devices or to the Internet.
More information about polling methods
