*Political Science Subject Guide

A starting point for general political science research.

Polling 101

An opinion poll, sometimes simply referred to as a poll, is a survey of public opinion from a particular sample. Opinion polls are usually designed to represent the opinions of a population by conducting a series of questions and then extrapolating generalities in ratio or within confidence intervals (Wikipedia).
The Roper Center provides information on the fundamentals of public opinion polling:  

Opinion Poll Databases

Pew Social Trends

The Pew Research Center can also provide data on political preferences and attitudes.

Major U.S. Public Opinion Studies

World & Regional Public Opinion