Gallup, Rasmussen Reports, and World Public Opinion

As I promised in class yesterday, I'll be supplying links and information about additional public opinion resources that you can tap into for your issue blogging and research papers. I'll be posting brief explanations of what you can find in each one and listing them alphabetically in the right sidebar under the "Public Opinion Resources" heading.

I'll start with 3 for today, including one that you've already been introduced to:

Gallup

This is the website of the Gallup Organization, an influential polling organization that was founded by Dr. George Gallup, one of the "founding fathers" of modern public opinion polling, back in 1935. As you've already seen, it includes poll reports on a wide variety of political and other issues, as well topical overviews that provide useful information about how American public opinion has varied over time.

Rasmussen Reports

Like Gallup.com, the Rasmussen Reports website offers an array of poll reports on different topics, including many that you all are focusing on this semester. It was also the source for many of the statistics presented in our "Public Opinion Bingo" game on Tuesday.

During the climax of the healthcare reform debate last spring, Rasmussen Reports founder Scott Rasmussen appeared on the Colbert Report to help explain how public opinion polling works:

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
The Colbert Repoll - Scott Rasmussen
http://www.colbertnation.com/
Colbert Report Full Episodes 2010 Election Fox News

World Public Opinion

In contrast to Gallup and Rasmussen Reports, which focus primarily (but not exclusively) on American public opinion, World Public Opinion is an international project that provides information about public opinion in different countries and regions. Its poll reports deal especially with issues that have some international dimension to them.