Polls, Surveys, and Public Opinion Resources

• Cal State Northridge Links [ http://library.csun.edu/mfinley/polls.html]
• Cornell Univ. Institute for Social and Economic Research [ http://www.ciser.cornell.edu/info/polls.shtml]
• Metalinks compiled By U Texas Libraries [ http://www.lib.utexas.edu/subject/ss/socio/polling.html]
  

Web Databases

• Harris Interactive Library [ http://www.harrisinteractive.com/harris_poll/] Articles from the respected Harris Poll.
• The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation [ http://www.kff.org/] Reports and polling on a wide range of issues, including healthcare and the media.
• www.netratings.com is part of the Nielsen family of media ratings companies. Use the News and Top Rankings tabs to locate recent newsletters and snapshots on Internet use, advertising, and more. [ http://www.netratings.com/]
• The NITLE Blog Census uses Web Crawlers to analyze the popularity of web logs. Usage stats, maps, etc. Maintained by the National Institute for Technology and Liberal Education [ http://www.blogcensus.net/]
• The Pew Research Center for the People and the Press
  [ http://people-press.org]
• The Polling Report [ http://www.pollingreport.com/] "An independent, nonpartisan resource on trends in American public opinion"
• PublicAgenda [ http://www.publicagenda.org/index.htm] is a non- partisan institute in New York City. At this site, you'll find most polling information available in chart form. A wide range of issues, accompanying articles, and more, all browseable on one list.
• Roper Center for Public Opinion
  [ http://www.ropercenter.uconn.edu]links to surveys and reports. Many reports and data sets are free, or sign up for a free trial of their IPOLL database (at this time, STL does not have a subscription to IPOLL). See also their links page 
  [http://www.ropercenter.uconn.edu/links.html] for other resources.
• The Washington Post "Poll Vault" [ http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/polls/vault/vault.htm] contains polls from 1997-present. Many simple charts allow you to drill down demographically, e.g., responses by gender, race, etc.
  
  

Journals You Should Know [These are available at STL:Check our Library Catalog and Serials Solutions for print and electronic holdings]

• The Gallup Tuesday Briefing
• American Demographics
• Public Opinion Quarterly

Where should I look for polls and surveys in STL's databases?

Our databases contain a wealth of statistical information, charts, and poll data from magazines, newspapers, and journals. Databases like Academic Search Premier and ProQuest enable you to combine words like "public opinion"or "poll"with a keyword that describes your research topic. Here are some other strategies:

• Many newspapers report on polls and opinion surveys:Use Lexis Nexis Universe to find polls from national and international newspapers
  
• Our Reference Link database contains poll questions and answers:select the Statistics link on the main screen to search for them.
  
• Selected statistical resources and public opinion polls may be found in Opposing Viewpoints. You may choose a topic and then select the Statistics or Articles tabs, or search for "Public Opinion"or "polls"from the Search box.
  

sjm 05.13.2004