What is your opinion of the Pew Research Center?

18 comments

1. Their research usually seems pretty solid. The issue is that lately it seems people have been taking their research and then drawing conclusions that are only tangentially related to the data.

   Like the other day we had a guy claiming that suicide rates in America were “so high” compared to Europe. When he linked the data (from pew research iirc) about half of Europe had the same rates we did. Increasingly it seems like someone has a conclusion they’ve already come to, and then they go and find something to reinforce that idea without ever challenging it.

2. Nothing but good things, they’re a solid think tank and at providing polling on a range of issues

3. For the most party they’re well respected. They’re viewed as a nonpartisan think tank.

4. They’re reliable and among the least biased opinion measurements available.

5. Solid polling organization.

   People use their data for all kinds of ridiculous conclusions which is usually the problem.

   They publish their polling and data collection methods. They generally do good analysis.

6. Solid polling data. I’d argue maybe the most trusted.

7. I agree with the person who said they made solid observations that are then, often, carried to whatever conclusion the reader had already.

   My only other problem with them was that one poster who kept insisting our answers on American opinions lacked statistical rigor, when anyone can just Google them, same as we can.

8. Pew’s research and statistical methods are sound and they’re generally well-respected. It’s third-party organizations that don’t accurately report on their findings that I don’t trust.

9. They’re the good standard in polling.

   I’m not sure what exactly you mean by “their take” on any issue, they just report on what they find. I don’t have a problem with people reporting on facts

   I might not like the facts but I wouldn’t want factual reporting replaced with something agrees with what I like instead

10. I trust it and read it casually sometimes.

11. I think they’re about as solid as you can be with self reported data but I’m not a huge fan of taking self reported data at face value or using it to back up certain claims.

    Their method of recruiting is mostly sending out mail invitations to individuals containing a little bit of cash and inviting them to join the ATP to fill out multiple surveys over a certain length of time which is actually a pretty decent system considering a lot of people will ignore unknown phone numbers and your email could their emails as spam or could be easily ignored (granted a lot of people probably toss the letters as spam mail as well).

    But at any rate, I think they get a good overall idea of the data they’re researching but I’d take it with a grain of salt and I wouldn’t use it as a slam dunk on any opinion article utilizing said data.

12. I love em

13. Pew is a pretty solid organization that I trust. I don’t “like” or “dislike” their “takes” because they’re just collecting responses to polls. Respondents’ answers aren’t reflective of the organization’s opinions. Unless they’re purposely wording answers to achieve a specific response, I consider them fairly neutral. But their data is often misconstrued.

    For instance, you’ll often hear “the majority of Americans support gun control/abortion/other issue”. Which, in a general sense is true. But you really need to break down their data to see what that means. “Gun control” might mean something completely different depending on who you ask. Does that mean you want more background checks and red flag laws, or does it mean you want all assault rifles banned?

    Same with abortion. If you ask the sweeping question of “do you approve of abortion in *some* or all circumstances?” You’re gonna get “yes” as a majority. But when you start looking at that question and factor in specifics, the answers get a lot more diverse and murkier. Jane approving of abortion before 6 weeks and for rape/incest victims & Jessica approving of abortion up to the 24th week (or point of fetal viability) for any reason but not after that means that they both technically support abortion in some cases. But obviously their views would be considered wildly different in the abortion debate. I’m not stating an opinion on either of these issues, or offering support/criticism, because that’s irrelevant to the point but just showing how we can misconstrue polls.

    So it’s not so much Pew being the problem as much as it is our interpretations of Pew’s polling

14. Seems to have decent polling methodology.

15. I share polls from them quite frequently

    Mostly their political polarization one, but I’ve seen a few other polls that I shared

16. Pretty solid and well-respected.

17. Totally decent polling organization, and generally pretty reliable, *but* when I was in college and thinking I wanted to do poli sci, I kept applying for so many of their internships & programs and never heard back once, so I’ve got a teensy bit of a chip on my shoulder about that!

18. Never heard of it