Surveys are primary sources
The Polling the Nations database puts a new perspective on real-world events, it documents trends and provides a basis for comparison of attitudes around the world while giving users the opportunity to test their opinions against others.
Around the world, surveys and opinion polls are busy collecting an enormous volume of information about what people think and how they conduct their lives.
Responses to the hundreds of thousands of questions provide an unusually rich source of primary data about life throughout the world.
Actions as well as attitudes. . .
Polls gather information about much more than just what people think.
They report on opinions about everything from how well the president is doing his job; to feelings about same-sex marriage; from what should be done about the electoral college; to the importance of education; from what ought to be taught in sex education courses to whether God exists.
Beyond opinions, however, surveys accumulate a large store of information about what people actually do, such as dieting and exercise, how often they go to church and whether they drive after drinking alcohol.
. . . even knowledge gets included
As a way of screening out individuals who know little or nothing about the issue being investigated, or just as a way of determining what people know about the world around them, polls frequently ask people to answer factual questions.
Polls can sketch a rough portrait, or document in detail, what people do and do not know about a wide variety of subjects.
Poll results are interesting
The responses to survey questions are inherently interesting because we each know how we would respond if the question were put to us. Learning what others said can be a satisfying reinforcement of our own views and actions, or it can make us wonder how everyone else could be so mistaken.
Survey results stand alone
It is possible to speculate endlessly about how much people exercise, or whether they favor the death penalty.
The only way to find out for sure is to ask. That is why polls have come to play so large a role in the discussion of issues, large and small—no other empirical evidence can carry the day as easily as the latest polling results.
Polls cover all topics
No matter what subject is being investigated, there is a strong chance that some poll has asked questions about it.
The best way to locate the most appropriate polling data is to use Polling the Nations.
Indispensable Data
