Guides: Political Science: Public Opinion

Public Opinion - U.S.

iPoll (Roper Center) This link opens in a new window
Public opinion survey data from the Roper Center at the University of Connecticut. iPoll is organized at the question level, providing the tools to sift through nearly a half million questions asked on national public opinion surveys, 1935 to present. Includes RoperExpress (offers downloads of over 20,000 datasets from over 100 countries to use with statistical software to conduct bivariate and multivariate analysis) and Roper Explorer (online analysis of several hundred studies allowing cross-tabulations without specialized statistical software). To download datasets, register to create an account and agree to their terms about confidentiality, etc. Roper provides educational material for using their tools and learning the basics about polling and analysis.
Polling the Nations This link opens in a new window
Database of public opinion polls containing the full text of 500,000 questions and responses from 14,000+ surveys conducted from 1986 through the present in the United States and 100 other countries around the world. Logout when done (1 user limit).
ICPSR (Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research) This link opens in a new window
ICPSR provides access to a large archive of social science data files for use with statistical software, such as SAS or SPSS. Includes some public opinion polls. In order to download data, you must create a MyData account with ICPSR, using a middlebury.edu email address. Tutorials are available on YouTube.

Gallup Polls
Gallup's website provides free access to their more recent polls. Middlebury does not subscribe to their achive. Some polls online via Lexis-Nexis and Academic Onefile. For older polls see print volumes and CD-Rom (1935 - 1997).
Pew Research Center
A nonpartisan fact tank that "conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research." Topics include social and demographic trends, media, religion, internet & technology, Hispanics, U.S. politics, global attitudes and more. Includes reports and datasets.
Huffpost Pollster
From the Huffington Post, it reports on public opinion polls from a variety of organizations. It includes political races and approval polls.
PollingReport.com
Current public opinion polls by a a variety of polling organizations (many are free but some are only available to subscribers).
RealClearPolitics (latest polls page)
Aggregates polls from various sources on a daily basis. See the About page for info about RealClearPolitics.
General Social Survey
The GSS contains a standard 'core' of demographic, behavioral, and attitudinal questions, plus topics of special interest. Some surveys also available on ICPSR.
American National Election Studies (ANES)
'Data on Americans' social backgrounds, enduring political predispositions, social and political values, perceptions and evaluations of groups and candidates, opinions on questions of public policy, and participation in political life.' (from IPCSR description).
Also on CD-Rom (1948-1997) Davis Family Library Stacks JK1967 .A82 or download from ICPSR (1948-2000)
Association of Religion Data Archives (ARDA)
A collection of maps, surveys, polls, and other data, providing demographic and religious membership information about the U.S. and other nations. Includes national (i.e. country) profiles.

Public Opinion - Other Countries

Polling the Nations This link opens in a new window
Database of public opinion polls containing the full text of 500,000 questions and responses from 14,000+ surveys conducted from 1986 through the present in the United States and 100 other countries around the world. Logout when done (1 user limit).
iPoll (Roper Center) This link opens in a new window
Public opinion survey data from the Roper Center at the University of Connecticut. iPoll is organized at the question level, providing the tools to sift through nearly a half million questions asked on national public opinion surveys, 1935 to present. Includes RoperExpress (offers downloads of over 20,000 datasets from over 100 countries to use with statistical software to conduct bivariate and multivariate analysis) and Roper Explorer (online analysis of several hundred studies allowing cross-tabulations without specialized statistical software). To download datasets, register to create an account and agree to their terms about confidentiality, etc. Roper provides educational material for using their tools and learning the basics about polling and analysis.

World Values Survey
Surveys on values and beliefs in 80 societies around the world. Some surveys also available on ICPSR.
WorldPublicOpinion.org
'An international collaborative project whose aim is to give voice to public opinion around the world on international issues.' Sponsored by University of Maryland.
Afrobarometer
'A comparative series of national public attitude surveys on democracy, markets, and civil society in Africa.' Also includes briefing papers and working papers.
AsiaBarometer
Comparative survey covering East, Southeast, South and Central Asia. Focuses on daily lives of ordinary people (their relationships to family, neighborhood, workplace, social and political institutions and market place). Some years also available via ICPSR.
Eurobarometer
European Public Opinion Surveys on a variety of topics, back to 1973. From the European Commission. Some Eurobarometer Surveys also available from ICPSR.
L'Opinion
French Newspaper (in FRENCH). Searchable online via LexisNexis back to Aug. 2013.
L' Etat de l'opinion
French Public Opinion.
Print: Davis Family Library Stacks HN440 .P8 O684 (1988 - present)
UK Data Service
Includes a variety of public opinion and other surveys. This site absorbed the Survey Question Bank. Question search is now part of Variable and Question Bank search.
ZACAT
European social science polling data. 'A social science data portal allowing you to search for, browse, analyse and download social science survey data, provided by GESIS - Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences'
Latin American Public Opinion Project (LAPOP)
'Survey of democratic public opinion and behavior that covers the Americas. It presently includes 23 countries...'

Handbooks

The Oxford Handbook of American Public Opinion and the Media
Call Number: E-Book
Publication Date: 2011