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Finding Data: Data on Public Opinion Polls

ACCESS TO THESE DATA FILES ARE RESTRICTED TO CURRENTLY ENROLLED/EMPLOYED MEMBERS OF PRINCETON UNIVERSITY.

• Selected Resources for:
  Public Opinion - Africa :: Public Opinion - Asia :: Public Opinion - Australia & New Zealand :: Public Opinion - Canada ::

• Selected Resources for:
  Public Opinion - Europe :: Public Opinion - Latin America & Caribbean :: Public Opinion - Middle East ::
  
  
• America's Barometer (2004, 2006, 2008)
  Public opinion data for Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Trinidad, United States, Uruguay, and Venezuela. Included in LAPOP - Latin American Public Opinion Project (see below). Once in the database click on online data analysis. Click on either Beginner or Expert and then choose your database (the America's Barometers are listed first).

• American National Election Studies (1948+)
  Principal academic survey of voting behavior in the United States, conducted biennially since 1956. Basic questions on religious identification and attendance at religious services have been asked throughout the time series, but the religion module was substantially widened and improved starting in 1990, making possible richer analyses of how religion affects political attitudes and behavior. Contains links to download all the data. Also see DSS Study 3047.

• American Public Opinion and US Foreign Policy Series (1975-2004)
  Quadrennial studies designed to investigate the opinions and attitudes of the general public and a select group of opinion leaders (or elites) on matters relating to United States foreign policy and to define the parameters of public opinion within which decision-makers must operate.

• Association of Religion Data Archives (ARDA)
  Major archive for data on religion. Holds numerous international surveys on religion, including general population surveys, surveys of selected religious groups, surveys of religious professionals, and aggregate church, congregational and denominational data. Notable datasets include:
  • Anti-Semitism in the United States- Results of the 1981 study may be compared to the 1964 study.
  • Churches and Church Membership in the United States - Self-report forms were completed by all participating religious bodies. Data is available on a state level basis for 1952, 1971, 1980, and 1990 as well as a county level basis (1952, 1971, 1980, and 1990).
  • Gallup Poll of Catholics - Interviews were conducted in 1987, 1992, 1993, 1999, and 2005.
  • National Survey of Youth and Religion (NSYR) -- nationally representative telephone survey of 3,290 English & Spanish-speaking teenagers between the ages of 13-17, and their parents. Also includes 80 oversampled Jewish households, not nationally representative, bringing the total number of completed cases to 3,370. Purpose is to research the shape & influence of religion & spirituality in the lives of American youth; to identify effective practices in the religious, moral, and social formation of the lives of youth; to describe the extent & perceived effectiveness of the programs & opportunities that religious communities are offering to their youth; and to foster an informed national discussion about the influence of religion in youth's lives, in order to encourage sustained reflection about and rethinking of our cultural and institutional practices with regard to youth & religion. The 2nd wave was designed to be a re-interview of all Wave 1 youth survey respondents. Parents of the youth respondents were not re-interviewed. At the time of the 2nd survey, respondents were between the ages of 16-21. Conducted from June 9-November 24, 2005. 2nd wave interviews were conducted only in English. Four youth respondents did not participate in the Wave 2 interview due to not being able to understand or speak English. Wave 2 covers many of the same topics as Wave 1. Many of the questions are identical. However, Wave 2 was re-designed to take into account changes in the lives of the respondents as they began to enter young adulthood. Wave 2 included new questions pertaining to behaviors occurring during the transition to adulthood, such as non-marital cohabitation, educational and career aspirations, pregnancy and marriage. In Wave 3 every attempt was made to re-interview all English-speaking Wave 1 youth survey respondents. At the time of the 3rd survey, respondents were between the ages of 18-24. Conducted from September 24, 2007-April 21, 2008. Wave 3 replicated many of the questions asked in Waves 1 & 2 with some changes made to better capture the respondents' lives as they grew older. For example, there were fewer questions on parental monitoring and more on post-high school educational aspirations.
  • Middletown Area Studies - Data were collected from 1978 to 2004. Assessed the views and lifestyles of citizens on a diverse range of subjects. Included questions on life satisfaction, education, income, family, religion, and politics.
  • Presbyterian Panel - Began in 1973 and is an ongoing panel study in which mailed questionnaires are used to survey representative samples of constituency groups of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). These constituency groups include members, elders, and pastors serving in a congregation. Panels are re-sampled every three years.
  • Southern Focus Polls - Southerners tend to slip through the cracks between state surveys, which are unreliable for generalizing to the region, on the one hand, and national sample surveys, which usually contain too few Southerners to allow detailed examination, on the other. Moreover, few surveys routinely include questions specifically about the South. To remedy this situation, the Institute for Research in Social Science and the Center for the Study of the American South sponsor a Southern regional survey, called the Southern Focus Poll. Respondents in both the South and non-South are asked questions about economic conditions in their communities, cultural issues (such as Southern accent and the Confederate flag), race relations, religious involvement, and characteristics of Southerners and Northerners.
  • Survey of American Catholic Priests - Priests were surveyed about satisfaction with their training, their Presbyteral Council, and particularly their priestly ministry. Topics include their views on church authority, the role of the laity, the challenges of the priestly life, public perceptions of the priesthood, and sexuality. Survey results for 1985, 1993, and 2001 are available.
  • System for Catholic Research, Information and Planning - The aim was to develop a dataset describing the U.S. Catholic Church at the diocesan level. Diocesan information collected from Church and other sources were merged with U.S. Census data describing population and other characteristics of the counties that make up each diocese. The total project consists of six decades worth of data -- 1940, 1950, 1960, 1970, 1980, and 1990.
  • U.S. Congregational Life Survey (2001) - Over 300,000 worshipers in over 2,000 congregations across America participated in the U.S. Congregational Life Survey. Three types of surveys were completed in each participating congregation: (a) an Attendee survey completed by all worshipers age 15 and older who attended worship services during the weekend of April 29, 2001; (b) a Congregational Profile describing the congregation's facilities, staff, programs, and worship services completed by one person in the congregation; and a Leader Survey completed by the pastor, priest, minister, rabbi, or other leader. Data sets are supplied for Southern Baptist, United Methodist, and Presbyterian faiths.

• Capturing Campaign Dynamics: The National Annenberg Election Survey
  The Annenberg 2000 Survey was the largest survey of the American electorate ever conducted. By the end of 2000, over 100,000 interviews were completed on Americans' political knowledge, media use, and opinions about candidates and issues. The large sample size enables analysis of groups that would be too small to measure confidently in ordinary election polls. Another key feature of the NAES is its use of the rolling cross sectional methodology, that allows the identification of trends and points of change in the public's reactions to political events as they unfold over the course of the election. The 2004 survey data have not yet been released. For updates, see the NAES04 website.

• Ghanaian Public Opinion on the United States' War on Terrorism, Involvement in Afghanistan, and Foreign Policy in the Middle East, 2002
  

• Global Views 2004: South Korean Public Opinion and Foreign Policy
  Studies the relationship between the United States public's and the Korean public's views on foreign policy. Highlights perceptions of security, use of force, economics, international rules, and other international issues.

• Harris Interactive
  Summary data on Harris polls back to 1998.

• International Stability: What Ghanians are Thinking, 2006
  Used to gather public opinion data in Ghana on issues such as the global threat of terrorism, the United States foreign policy, and questions pertaining to the Middle East and Africa.

• Kaiser Family Foundation Polls
  Questions and responses to health and healthcare surveys conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation back to 1994.

• LAPOP - Latin American Public Opinion Project
  Surveys analyzing citizen views on system support, political tolerance, citizen participation, local government, corruption, and views on authoritarianism for Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela as well as for Canada, Israel, Madagascar, and the United States. Includes America's Barometer.

• Mexican Origin People in the United States: the 1979 Chicano Survey
  Household survey of persons of Mexican descent living in California, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Texas, and Chicago, Illinois. The purpose was to compile a statistically representative and comprehensive body of empirical information about the social, economic, and psychological status of Chicanos. Major topics covered were mental and physical health and use of health services, family background and composition, customary practices and values, language use and attitudes, employment history, social identity, group consciousness, and political opinions and participation.

  Sample Size: Of over 11,000 people screened, 1,400 met the Mexican ancestry criterion. Of this total, 991 interviews were collected.

• MORI/GMF Poll: 2002 European World Views Survey
  This study of 6 European countries is the European counterpart to the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations American Public Opinion and US Foreign Policy, 2002 survey. Includes the US role in the world, looking at foreign policy goals, economic aid, spending, vital interests, the use of US troops, attitudes toward specific countries, NATO, foreign aid, trade, economic sanctions, globalization, and terrorism.

• National Survey of Latinos (2002, 2004, 2006, 2007)
  Surveys among the Latino community with themes each year (immigration, politcs and civil participation, education).

  Sample Size: Nationally representative samples of Latino respondents ages 18 and older.

• Odum Institute Public Opinion Poll Question Database
  The Odum Institute houses 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. Other public opinion data at the Institute include the Carolina Polls and Southern Focus Polls, Gallup polls from the U.S. and other countries, and polls from major broadcasting networks and newspapers. Many of the datasets, including the Harris polls, are available for direct download. Includes many state polls.

• Pew Global Attitudes Project
  Worldwide public opinion surveys that encompasses a broad array of subjects ranging from people's assessments of their own lives to their views about the current state of the world and important issues of the day. Topics have included views of Asian nations of each other, Muslims in Europe, images of the United States, the Iraq War, and foreign policy. Surveys include different nations and topics:
  • August 2001 (France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, United States)
  • April 2002 (France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, United States)
  • Summer 2002 (Angola, Argentina, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Egypt, France, Germany, Ghana, Great Britain, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Italy, Ivory Coast, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Mali, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Russia, Senegal, Slovak Republic, South Africa, South Korea, Tanzania, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, United States, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Vietnam)
  • November 2002 (France, Germany, Great Britain, Russia, Turkey, United States)
  • January 2003 (United States)
  • March 2003 (France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Spain, Poland, Russia, United States)
  • May 2003 (Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Nigeria, Palestine, Russia, South Korea, Spain, Turkey, United States)
  • March 2004 (France, Germany, Great Britain, Jordan, Morocco, Pakistan, Russia, Turkey, United States)
  • Spring 2005 (Canada, China, France, Germany, Great Britain, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Netherlands, Pakistan, Poland, Russia, Spain, Turkey, USA)
  • Spring 2006 (China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Japan, Jordan, Nigeria, Pakistan, Russia, Turkey, USA)
  • 2007 (Argentina, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Czech Republic, Egypt, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Ivory Coast, Japan, Kenya, Kuwait, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mali, Mexico, Morocco, Nigeria, Pakistan, Palestine, Peru, Poland, Russia, Senegal, Slovakia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Tanzania, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, United States, Venezuela)
  • 2008 (Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, Egypt, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Jordan, Lebanon, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Poland, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Tanzania, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States)

• Pew Research Center For The People & The Press data archive
  The Pew Research Center is an independent opinion research group that studies attitudes toward the press, politics and public policy issues. They are best known for regular national surveys that measure public attentiveness to major news stories, and for their polling that charts trends in values and fundamental political and social attitudes.

• Polling the Nations
  Compilation of public opinion surveys conducted in the United States and more than 80 other countries. Each record includes the question asked and the responses given, the polling organization responsible for the work, the date the information was released, the sample size, and the groups or areas included in the interview.

• Roper Center for Public Opinion Research
  Archive of public opinion and survey research.

• Survey of Consumer Attitudes and Behavior (1953+)
  Measure changes in consumer attitudes and expectations, to understand why these changes occur, to evaluate how they relate to consumer decisions to save, borrow, or make discretionary purchases, and to forecast changes in aggregate consumer behavior. Changes in consumers' willingness to buy are best assessed by making use of the answers to all questions asked in the surveys, especially the open-ended questions that probe underlying reasons. Nevertheless, in order to make available a summary measure of change in consumer sentiment, the Survey Research Center uses the answers to selected questions to calculate an Index of Consumer Sentiment. Each survey also probes a different aspect of consumer confidence. The surveys use a national sample of dwelling units selected by area probability sampling that is representative of the adult population of the United States.

  Sample Size: National sample of dwelling units selected by area probability sampling that is representative of the adult population of the United States.

• World Public Opinion.org
  Program on International Policy Attitudes site providing public opinion from around the world.

• World Values Survey and European Values Survey. 1981-1984, 1990-1993, 1995-1997, 1999-2005.
  Designed to enable a crossnational comparison of values and norms on a wide variety of topics and to monitor changes in values and attitudes across the globe. A variety of questions on religion and morality were included. Data is currently available for 1981-1984, 1990-1993, 1995-1997, and 1999-2005.