Survey Basics

Test your knowledge of public opinion polling by taking our 10-question quiz.

By the end of our free, five-lesson course, you will know why we have polls, what the different kinds of polls are, how polling works and what you should look for in a poll.

Pew Research Center’s political typology sorts Americans into cohesive, like-minded groups based on their values, beliefs, and views about politics and the political system. Use this tool to compare the groups on some key topics and their demographics.

Pew Research Center makes most of its datasets available for download once reporting has been completed for a given study. Here's how to find and access our data.

If you’ve wondered what opinion polls are for, how they are done or how to tell a good one from a bad one, sign up for our email mini-course.

Here, we address some of the most common questions we receive about the nuts and bolts of taking a U.S.-focused Pew Research Center poll.

While survey research in the United States is a year-round undertaking, the public’s focus on polling is never more intense than during the run-up to a presidential election.

While the notion that polls should include equal numbers of Republicans and Democrats makes some sense, it’s based on a misunderstanding of what polling is intended to do.

Polling in different parts of the world can be very challenging, because what works in one country may not work in a different country.

How does the way a poll is conducted influence the answers people give?