Skip to Main Content

Public Opinion: Fact or Fantasy: Start Here

Research Databases

Zotero- Full Video Tutorial

Niche Academy Tutorial: How to do a Lit Review

Watch this thorough video tutorial that guides you through the creation of a literature review:

Public Opinion Sites

Resources for finding Public Opinion: 
General Social Survey: Personal-interview survey designed to monitor changes in both social characteristics and attitudes currently being conducted in the United States 1972-present. Raw data included
American National Election Studies: ANES provides data on voting, public opinion, and political participation. Free registration is required to view and download data.
Pew Research Center: Provides data and analysis on the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the United States and the world. Includes some raw data.
Reuters Polling: Weekly polls on a variety of topics since 2012.
Odum Institute Archive: Database maintained by the University of North Carolina provides access to the Harris Poll, Carolina Poll, Southern Poll, National Network of State Polls and Knight Foundation Community Poll collections. Raw data included.
PollingReport: Aggregates polling data from dozens of prominent pollsters.
 

Search Strategies

If you don't get great results from your initial keywords, brainstorm some other ways to approach your topic. A librarian can also help you!

Data Collection

There are two main categories of data: Qualitative and Quantitative. Quantitative refers to data that is measurable and can be identified by numbers of figures *who, what, when, where, how many?). Qualitative data includes information that is not numerical and can be obtained by open-ended survey or interview questions (why? how?). 

 

Types of data to consider: 

  • Surveys/Polls
  • Interviews
  • Economic data
  • Demographics
  • Online Forums

Online Resources