Research Guides: POL 110: US Government and Politics: Short Paper 2

Finding Public Opinion Data

Here are some recommended sources for finding public opinion data. Don't hesitate to reach out to a librarian if you're having trouble finding opinion data - it's not always the easiest thing to locate. Note that on some of these sites, you'll need to do additional searching to find public opinion data.

FiveThirtyEight Politics
A site that analyzes poll and other data for politics, sports, economics, science, and culture. The underlying data is also made available in many cases.
Marist Poll
Based at a college, this survey research center conducts polls on politics and a variety of cultural and social issues.
Monmouth University Poll Reports
A university-based public opinion survey research institute.
New York Times Poll Watch
An excellent, reliable source for polls and public opinion data.
Pew Research Center
A non-partisan site that researches politics, media, social trends, religion, science and technology, Hispanic Americans, and global opinion.
Quinnipiac University Poll
Based at a college, this organization conducts phone interviews on politics and policy.
Real Clear Politics
Curates opinion poll data on a variety of issues.
Washington Post Polls
Results of surveys conducted by the Washington Post as well as links to other polls.

Finding Interest Groups

There are many ways to find interest groups. One simple one is to google your topic and "interest groups" to see what comes up. A more targeted way is to read newspaper articles about your topic. More than likely, someone representing a particular interest group will be quoted. Pay attention to those organizations and then find them online. These resources might also help, although you'll have to do some additional digging:

OpenSecrets
As per their website, OpenSecrets is the nation's premier research group tracking money in U.S. politics and its effect on elections and public policy. The link lets you search or browse for interest groups that have given money to political organizations or politicians. While this may or may not be of interest, searching OpenSecrets helps you identify possible interest groups.
Lobbying Disclosures, US House of Representatives
Another somewhat roundabout way to identify groups is to browse or search the database from the US House of Representatives. Try a keyword search related to your topic. Again, your goal is to identify if groups exist about your topic.
Vote Smart
Vote Smart provides an easy-to-use menu of interest groups organized by topic.
Political Advocacy Groups
This site provides a directory of United States lobbyists. You can search within particular subject areas (like Education or Civil Rights) to find lobbying groups.

POL 110: US Government and Politics: Short Paper 2

Assignment

Finding Public Opinion Data

Finding Interest Groups