Here are some tips from Pew Research to help you distinguish between a good poll and an unreliable one.

How George Gallup changed political polling forever

Straw polls had been used in the 19th century, but it wasn't until George Gallup's use of random sampling in 1936 that the art became a science.

The worst election polling fails in US history

Presidential pollsters in the US have had some embarrassing failures. Here’s a catalog of those miscalls, from the scholar who literally wrote the book on them.

Striking demographic trends from 2022

This article lists the 15 most striking research findings by Pew Research Center in 2022. The topics highlighted represent a sample of the Center’s research, compiled through surveys. Findings examine public opinion around the biggest news events...

How to read the news on TikTok

There's plenty of news on TikTok, but that doesn't mean it's all reliable. This guide, written by a communication technology professor, breaks down the ways the app's algorithm delivers news. It also covers how users can determine whether or not a story is factual or misleading. Most strikingly, the professor warns readers that if they didn't search for a TikTok video, then "it probably found you."

A prediction market was more accurate than most polls about the 2024 US presidential election

The idea that the median estimate of a group can be more accurate than individual expert estimates is called the "wisdom of the crowd," and dates back to the early 1900s. This theory can help explain the perceived value of prediction markets when it comes to polling and more.

Travel in time to how people felt about major US events

Pollsters track more than just politics: From civil rights to war declarations, go back and see how people felt about major events in the US with this timeline.

Google Search trends reveal truths about society that traditional surveys miss

Studies of human behavior show that survey respondents may lie to present themselves more favorably. By studying anonymous search data, researchers have uncovered hidden racism, mental health struggles, and interest in taboo or stigmatized topics.

How political campaigns use your data

What do campaigns know about US voters, and how do they use that information to shape their strategies during elections? US political campaigns base their strategies and tactics on data collected from more than 200 million voting-age Americans. This visualization by Reuters breaks down how data firms create national databases of voter files, collecting information from a variety of sources to create detailed voter profiles and how political campaigns use that data.

Understand the US electorate demographics

Ever wonder how much of each group make up the American voting bloc? Find raw data from the '16 and '18 elections broken out by a variety of factors (click on "validated voters database" link).

Latest polls on the 2024 Presidential election

The latest polls for the 2024 Presidential Election. Updated daily, includes state and national polls for every matchup, including Biden, Harris, Trump, and DeSantis.

17% of US adults said they had invested, traded, or used cryptocurrency in 2023

A survey from the Pew Research Center found that 63% of US adults have “little to no confidence that current ways to invest in, trade, or use cryptocurrencies are reliable and safe.”

Research shows that, on average, humans correctly spot liars about half of the time

Polygraph tests, also known as lie detectors, are better at detecting lies than people, but they still aren't allowed in most courtrooms. That's in part because of mixed signals. For example, spikes in heart rate can be explained by the stress a person feels during interrogation rather than by their own deception. As a result, polygraph tests are prone to false accusations. Results are also unreliable when participants actually believe their lies, examiners have biases, and tricks are employed to help test-takers relax.

Explore 2024 polling on curriculum debates relating to social issues

A 2023 nationwide Pew survey found that 56% of K–12 teachers report discussing race or racial inequality in class, while only 29% mention LGBTQ topics. Many teachers (41%) say these debates have negatively impacted their work.

Research suggests articles on Wikipedia are about as reliable as 'accurate' sources

Studies from Nature, The Guardian, the Journal of Clinical Oncology, and the Canadian Library Association, among others, did not identify significant errors, particularly in articles related to academic topics. The site is still considered an exploratory, tertiary source subject to systemic biases from its human editors, especially within controversial topics.

Winning Pulitzers doesn't attract readers to newspapers.

How partisan is your district?

The highly-respected Cook Political Report rates how partisan--and therefore, how safe--every district in the US is. Hover over your home district to see the score.

While studies have shown that voter fraud in the US is extremely rare, its elections are considered the 35th fairest in the world according to the 2025 Free and Fair Elections Index—a list topped by Belgium and Norway.

Global support for free speech and press freedom has declined since 2019

A 2025 Pew Research survey found that the share of people worldwide who consider free speech and press freedom important has declined over the past several years, even though majorities in most countries still say these rights matter.

Half of Americans have an unfavorable opinion of the IRS, while 38% have a favorable view

From July 1 to July 7, 2024, Pew Research Center conducted a survey of 9,424 adults to gauge the public's attitudes about the federal government, including government agencies and departments. Of 13 agencies, 10 had net favorable ratings of 15 percentage points or more. Topping the list were the National Park Service (76% favorable), the US Postal Service (72%) and NASA (67%).

China is now viewed more favorably than the US in a majority of 36 countries surveyed this year.

Personality tests use the Barnum effect, where vague flattery makes generic descriptions feel specific

A 1949 experiment by psychologist Bertram Forer showed that students rated identical, generic personality profiles as highly personalized. This is the same approach used in horoscopes, Myers-Briggs personality types, and fortune tellers. Even well-resourced tests like Myers-Briggs show poor test-retest reliability, with up to half of retakers getting different results.

Novels sometimes use unreliable narrators

When we read a book, we’re effectively forced to take the narrator’s word for what’s unfolding. But what if that narrator has a biased take on those events? What if, in a general sense, that narrator can’t be trusted? Enter the unreliable narrator, a strategic way of shaping a story that adds an additional layer to the narrative.

40% of Americans polled by Pew Research Center felt pessimistic about marriage

Black and Asian respondents reported more pessimism about marriage than white or Hispanic respondents. Over half of Republicans feel negatively about the future of marriage, while only 25% of Democrats felt the same.

David Ogilvy once worked for the man who created the Gallup Poll

In 1938, when Ogilvy came to the United States, he started working for George Gallup’s Audience Research Institute in New Jersey. He took his learnings with him through the rest of his career, including during World War II, when Ogilvy worked with the Intelligence Service at the British Embassy in Washington.

The average person can only detect someone is lying 54% of the time

Scientific research shows that avoiding eye contact or fidgeting—behaviors typically associated with deception—do not reliably communicate dishonesty. Polygraph tests are considered "junk science," with the best means of detection relying on evidence and contradictions.

Mark Zuckerberg apologized for not doing enough to stop the spread of misinformation on Facebook ahead of the 2016 election

Leading up to the 2016 election, misinformation about both Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, and even Barack Obama flourished on Facebook. In the final stretch leading up to the election, more than one-quarter of Americans visited a fake news site supporting either Trump or Clinton. Many fake news studies have widely different methods of measuring and assessing the impact of fake news, so the actual impact it had in the 2016 election is unclear.

Alternatives to polygraphs, which correctly identify innocent people only 57% of the time

Lie detector polygraphs have been standard in law enforcement for a century despite being based in unproven science. Researchers are exploring brain-scanning and eye-tracking alternatives, though some suggest there's no reliable lie-detection process at all.

35% of Americans have moved on from their childhood religion

A new Pew Research analysis finds that most Americans still identify with their childhood religion, but 35% have switched or left entirely—often due to lost belief or drifting away.

Determine if you're an ethical true crime fan

True crime entertainment researcher Lindsey Sherrill is obsessed with her field of study. She noticed that some true crime content dove into criminal and justice reform, illuminating forgotten cases, while others turned into exploitative entertainment. So, she developed four questions to reflect on the real-life implications of one's true crime consumption.

A majority in surveyed countries approve of the UN

A 2024 Pew Research Center survey found that a median of 58% across 35 countries viewed the UN favorably, while 31% held unfavorable views. Notably, younger adults tended to view the UN more positively than older generations. The report offers a detailed, country-by-country analysis of global perceptions of the UN.

A majority of Americans think President Trump is using more power than previous presidents

An October 2025 Pew Research Center survey found that 69% of Americans believed President Trump was trying to exert more power than previous presidents. Most Democrats viewed it negatively, while about half of Republicans said it was good for the country.

Americans think being informed is a priority for voting, but don't prioritize reading the news

Many Americans report feeling "news fatigue," finding much of the news they encounter irrelevant. Still, being informed is recognized as a major civic duty. Many Americans have stopped seeking out the news or are far more selective about where they receive it, and an increasing sense that its up to individuals to confirm the facts they're being told.

Ranking life's biggest decisions

Psychological research presents some unsurprising wisdom about how to make big decisions without regret: focus on people, don’t miss opportunities, and stay true to yourself.

See the religious breakdown of the US from 2007 to 2024.

Wikipedia openly displays edit history and editorial disputes to assess trustworthiness

Unlike a journal article, which may be reviewed by up to three people before publication, popular Wikipedia pages may be reviewed thousands of times by editors, potentially enhancing their reliability. Less reviewed articles still require reliable third-party sources and remain subject to verification by bots and administrators who can undo edits.

Election 101 podcast

What’s actually at stake when someone casts their vote in a US election? CNN’s “Election 101” podcast series provides ten episodes summarizing some of the basics of democratic elections. The ins and outs of voting are highlighted in 15-minute episodes on voter registration and voting by mail. Additional segments highlight how the electoral system works, how ballots are counted, the Electoral College, why it takes so long to get election results, and more.