Scott Keeter

Sep 11, 2024 | pewresearch.org | Scott Keeter |Katherine Schaeffer

We’re in the thick of election season and political polls are everywhere, with good reason. Surveys can give insights into more than just the presidential horse race. They can tell us how the public feels about specific issues, give us a sense of people’s political priorities, and more. A well-designed poll gives everyone in the population an equal voice, providing information that isn’t available anywhere else.

Aug 28, 2024 | pewresearch.org | Scott Keeter |Courtney Kennedy

Confidence in U.S. public opinion polling was shaken by errors in 2016 and 2020. In both years’ general elections, many polls underestimated the strength of Republican candidates, including Donald Trump. These errors laid bare some real limitations of polling. In the midterms that followed those elections, polling performed better. But many Americans remain skeptical that it can paint an accurate portrait of the public’s political preferences.

Mar 21, 2024 | pewresearch.org | Laura Silver |Scott Keeter |Jordan Lippert |Besheer Mohamed

Most Americans report having strong emotional reactions to the Israel-Hamas war. Yet, for the most part, Americans are not paying very close attention to news about the conflict. One sign of this limited attention is that only about half of U.S. adults can correctly answer a question that tests their factual knowledge by asking whether the number of deaths in the war, so far, is higher among Palestinians or among Israelis.

Jul 12, 2023 | pewresearch.org | Scott Keeter

It’s a question that has divided political analysts for years: Which is the bigger factor in a party’s electoral success – persuading voters to switch from their usual party, or getting more party loyalists to vote? Pew Research Center conducted this study to better understand which voters cast ballots in the 2022 midterm elections and how they voted. We also wanted to compare how turnout and vote choices differed from previous elections in 2020, 2018 and 2016.