Gallup Poll Social Series

Gallup Poll Social Series
Name	Gallup Poll Social Series
Formation	2000s
Type	Public opinion survey series
Headquarters	Washington, D.C.
Leader title	Director
Parent organization	Gallup

Gallup Poll Social Series is a recurring public opinion survey program conducted by Gallup that tracks attitudes on social, political, and cultural issues across the United States. The series has produced longitudinal data used by scholars, policymakers, journalists, and institutions to analyze trends in behavior, belief, and demographics. It frequently appears alongside other datasets used by researchers at universities, think tanks, and media organizations.

Overview

The series was developed by Gallup researchers working in Washington, D.C., and has been cited by journalists at The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and analysts at Pew Research Center, Brookings Institution, American Enterprise Institute, and Urban Institute. Data from the series have informed reports by staff at Harvard University, Stanford University, Yale University, Columbia University, and Princeton University. Major dissemination partners have included broadcasters such as CNN, NBC News, ABC News, and CBS News, and publications like Time (magazine), Newsweek, The Atlantic, and The Economist.

Methodology

Gallup’s team employs sampling and weighting strategies common to survey research used by centers such as Ipsos, YouGov, RAND Corporation, Center for Strategic and International Studies, and Matthew Greenberg-style analysts. Interview modes have included telephone interviews using lists from vendors like Nielsen and panels similar to those at NORC at the University of Chicago, GfK, and Qualtrics. Survey design draws on standards from institutions such as American Association for Public Opinion Research, American Statistical Association, National Academy of Sciences, and training programs at London School of Economics. Data cleaning and variance estimation reference methods from scholars affiliated with University of Michigan, University of California, Berkeley, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Carnegie Mellon University.

Major Topics and Trends

The series covers issues spanning approval ratings for leaders such as Barack Obama, Donald Trump, Joe Biden, and George W. Bush; attitudes toward institutions including Supreme Court of the United States, Congress of the United States, and Federal Reserve System; and social topics paralleling research at Human Rights Campaign, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, and AARP. It tracks demography-linked responses tied to regions like Northeast United States, Midwestern United States, Southern United States, and Western United States and to metropolitan areas such as New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, and Philadelphia. Thematic modules have mirrored public debate on events like the 2008 financial crisis, COVID-19 pandemic, September 11 attacks, Affordable Care Act, and Black Lives Matter movement.

Notable Findings and Impact

Findings from the series have been cited in policy discussions at United States Congress, executive deliberations in the White House, and testimony before committees chaired by members from Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and House Committee on Oversight and Accountability. Academic citations appear in journals edited by faculties at Johns Hopkins University, Duke University, University of Pennsylvania, and Northwestern University. Media reporting based on the series has influenced coverage on broadcasters like Fox News, MSNBC, and outlets including Reuters and Associated Press. Research derived from the series has been used in briefs at Council on Foreign Relations, Heritage Foundation, and Center for American Progress.

Criticism and Controversies

Critics have compared Gallup’s approach with polling failures associated with surveys around events such as the 2016 United States presidential election and have contrasted methods with alternative approaches used by FiveThirtyEight, Fivethirtyeight.com, The Cook Political Report, and FiveThirtyEight's Nate Silver. Controversies have centered on weighting choices reminiscent of debates involving exit polling in 2000 United States presidential election, sampling frames discussed in critiques from Columbia Journalism Review and The Guardian, and mode effects noted in methodological critiques published by researchers at Dartmouth College, University of Chicago, and Vanderbilt University.

Related Surveys and Comparisons

Researchers often compare the series to other national instruments including polls by Pew Research Center, surveys by CBS News/New York Times, tracking polls by RealClearPolitics, and legacy datasets from General Social Survey at NORC and longitudinal studies such as American National Election Studies. International comparisons reference work from Eurobarometer, World Values Survey, International Social Survey Programme, and country-level polling by Ipsos MORI and YouGov United Kingdom.

Category:Polling organizations Category:Gallup (organization)