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Methodological Research
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Q&A: How we projected the future of world religions
Demographer Conrad Hackett explains how he and his team put together our major new report and why it differs from past efforts to predict religious change.
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Building Pew Research Center’s American Trends Panel
In early 2014, Pew Research Center set out to build a probability-based panel – the American Trends Panel – to supplement our traditional method of data collection in the U.S. – the random digit dial (RDD) telephone survey. Here’s how we built and managed the panel, and what we learned from it in 2014.
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What we learned about surveying with mobile apps
No research has compared app-based surveys with polls administered via Web browsers. Our new, experimental work compares the results of these two modes.
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App vs. Web for Surveys of Smartphone Users
Pew Research Center methodologists examine the efficacy of intensive data collection with a probability-based panel and the differences in participation and responses when using a smartphone app as opposed to a web browser for a study of smartphone use.
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The challenges of using Facebook for research
We wanted to analyze the role Facebook played as a means for people to hear about, discuss and share local news. But getting the data we needed wasn’t easy.
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On Twitter, local news is hard to find
Here’s a rundown of what worked and what didn’t in using Twitter for our research of three local news ecosystems.
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Q&A: How Pew Research analyzed local media ‘ecosystems’
Our new report on local news in a digital age looks at both the organizations providing the news and the residents consuming it.
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Why Pew Research Center is going deeper on science
While we have explored science-related issues in the past, our new science publication marks a more formal commitment to studying the intersection of science with all aspects of society – from public opinion, to politics and policymaking, to religious and ethical considerations, to education and the economy.
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Signature Reports
A Field Guide to Polling: Election 2020 Edition
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.
Growing and Improving Pew Research Center’s American Trends Panel
Pew Research Center’s American Trends Panel (ATP) is now the Center’s principal source of data for U.S. public opinion research.
Comparing Survey Sampling Strategies: Random-Digit Dial vs. Voter Files
A new telephone survey experiment finds that an opinion poll drawn from a commercial voter file produces results similar to those from a sample based on random-digit dialing.
Are Telephone Polls Understating Support for Trump?
An experiment comparing responses to 27 questions fielded on both a telephone and a web survey found no significant mode differences in overall opinion about Trump or many of his signature policy positions.
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