We’re proud to be associated with a newly published article in the scientific journal PNAS Nexus, titled “Protecting the Integrity of Survey Research.” The article suggests 12 steps to improve the integrity, utility and understanding of public opinion surveys, centered around three themes: transparency, clarity and correcting the record.

In sum, the paper calls on survey researchers to be transparent in describing their work, so the research community can independently assess their methods and claims; to be clear and precise in describing their work, including its limitations; and to be willing to issue clarifications and corrections as needed. It encourages all those involved in the survey enterprise – including practitioners, scholars, survey vendors, leaders of professional associations, journal editors, reporters and publishers – to adopt and promulgate these scientific norms.

The paper is an outcome of a two-day virtual conference among 20 senior survey researchers, convened in November 2021 by Marcia McNutt, president of the National Academy of Sciences, and co-hosted by the Annenberg Foundation Trust at Sunnylands and the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania. The proceedings were coordinated by Arthur Lupia of the University of Michigan and Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director of the APPC, who together lead-authored the paper.

Co-authors include Ashley Amaya of the Pew Research Center; Henry E. Brady of the University of California, Berkeley; René Bautista of the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago; Joshua D. Clinton of Vanderbilt University; Jill A. Dever of RTI International; David Dutwin of NORC; Daniel L. Goroff of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation; D. Sunshine Hillygus of Duke University; Courtney Kennedy of the Pew Research Center; Gary Langer of Langer Research Associates; John S. Lapinski of the University of Pennsylvania; Michael Link of Ipsos; Tasha Philpot of the University of Texas, Austin; Ken Prewitt of Columbia University; Doug Rivers of Stanford University; Lynn Vavreck of the University of California, Los Angeles; David C. Wilson of the University of California, Berkeley; and Marcia K. McNutt.

PNAS Nexus is an open-access sibling journal to the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, published by the NAS in partnership with Oxford University Press. See the article here, and please share it with your circles.

Americans’ confidence in how police are trained and their treatment of Black people both have fallen to new lows in the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll, with coverage (beyond ABC and the Post) by NBC News, Forbes, The Hill and The Spokesman-Review in Spokane, Washington, among others.

As Joe Biden headed into the 2023 State of the Union, 41 percent were not as well off financially as they were when he took office and just 36 percent said he’s accomplished a great deal or good amount as president. Looking forward to 2024, nearly six in 10 Democratic-aligned adults don’t want to see Biden renominated, and half on the Republican side would rather not see Donald Trump as their party’s nominee. In addition to coverage by ABC and the Post, results have been picked up by CNN, USA Today, The Week, MarketWatch, U.S. News & World Report, The Hill (here and here), Politico and Axios, among others.

­We’re proud to have partnered with the Charles Butt Foundation in its fourth annual survey of public attitudes toward public education in Texas. Parents are broadly satisfied with the quality of their child’s education, the survey finds, and the vast majority of Texans say a teacher of theirs positively impacted their life.

Given that goodwill, the poll finds strong, bipartisan support for increasing state funding for public schools, including specifically to boost teacher salaries.

There are challenges: Just 39 percent of Texans would like to have a child of their own take up teaching in the public schools, down 10 points in a year. Three-quarters think public school teachers are undervalued or disrespected by society; 66 percent see teachers as overworked.

On school safety, 53 percent of Texans see at least a moderate risk of a mass shooting event at a public school in their community. Among parents, four in 10 see at least a moderate risk to their own child.

The survey also covers Texans’ views on vouchers, the effectiveness of the standardized STAAR test, students’ belonging and inclusion and the public’s engagement with local public schools. See the full report, topline and methodology here, as well as coverage in The Texas Tribune, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, the Texas Standard, the San Antonio Report, the Texas AFT and in county newspapers across the state.

Our final ABC/Post pre-election poll found a 50-48 percent Republican-Democratic split in House vote preference among likely voters, with economic discontent and President Joe Biden’s unpopularity fueling Republican prospects. Despite these headwinds, our ABC News exit poll analysis indicates that support for abortion rights, negative views of Donald Trump, rejection of election denial, broad backing from young voters and surprising strength among independents helped to keep the race for House and Senate control competitive. See additional coverage by The New York Times, Forbes, MSNBC, PBS, Vox, The Week, The Global Herald, The Hill, the New York Post, and the Chicago Sun-Times, among others.

Sixty-two percent of drivers in the United States admit having driven while they were so tired they had a hard time keeping their eyes open. Among them, a quarter – the equivalent of approximately 37 million adults – report doing so at least once a year, or more often than that.

That’s the case even though 95 percent of adults call drowsy driving extremely or very risky.  Even among drivers who call it extremely risky, six in 10 say they have driven drowsy at some point.

Results are from a survey we produced for the National Sleep Foundation in conjunction with its 15^th annual Drowsy Driving Week. See the full report here and more information about Drowsy Driving Week here.

Gary Langer joined Courtney Kennedy of the Pew Research Center in an hourlong webinar for journalists on how to cover election polls, sponsored by the SciLine program of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. See Gary wave his arms and foam at the mouth here.

Our latest ABC News/Washington Post poll finds the Democratic Party struggling to find traction in the midterms, Joe Biden’s economic stewardship under fire and his overall job approval under 40 percent. A clear majority of Democrats say the party should replace Biden as its nominee for president in 2024. In addition to coverage by ABC and the Post, we’ve seen pickup by Yahoo News, Newsweek, Fox News, Fox Business, Bloomberg and The Hill, among others.

Two extensive new surveys from Langer Research Associates have been released in the past two weeks, one exploring attitudes and experiences among public school teachers in Texas, the other evaluating vaccine uptake and related attitudes among a national, random sample of college students.

The Texas study, produced for the Charles Butt Foundation, finds vast numbers of Texas teachers feeling undervalued, underpaid and overworked – with consequences for retention. Seventy-seven percent have seriously considered leaving the profession, up 19 percentage points in two years. Seventy-two percent have taken concrete steps to do so, from preparing resumes and conducting job searches to interviewing for another position. Even excluding those nearing retirement age, six in 10 expect to move on within five years.

Pay is a major factor: Eighty-one percent of Texas teachers say their pay is unfair, up 12 points in a year. Forty-one percent report working an additional job out of financial need, in most cases during the school year. And morale has suffered sharply, with the share of teachers who feel valued by Texans overall falling from 44 percent two years ago to 17 percent now – the single largest change in three years of Texas teacher surveys.

The survey identifies several actionable retention strategies. A broad 80 percent of teachers say input into school and district decision-making would be highly important in encouraging them to continue working as a public school teacher; only 16 percent feel they have this in their current position. A significant pay increase and improved work culture and environment also would be highly impactful.

See the full report and our accompanying qualitative study of Texas teachers’ attitudes here. We’ve seen pickup in the Dallas Morning News, the Houston Chronicle, KBTX in Austin, the Texas Tribune, San Antonio Report, Longview News-Journal, and in county newspapers across the state.

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Our national study for the American College Health Association finds that COVID-19 vaccination among college students exceeds uptake among all adults nationally, with campus vaccine requirements a decisive factor.

The survey finds that 85 percent of college students are vaccinated, rising to nearly universal uptake at colleges that require it. Such vaccine requirements are a significant, independent predictor of student vaccination. And about eight in 10 students at campuses with these requirements in place say they feel safer as a result.

Vaccination lags at two-year colleges and the survey finds substantial hesitancy among students who are not vaccinated, as well as among those who are vaccinated but have not received a booster shot. It identifies communication obstacles, with fewer than half of students reporting getting at least a good amount of information about COVID-19 or COVID-19 vaccines from their college. Incoming students had low awareness of their schools’ vaccine or mask requirements.

The survey also assesses uptake of other vaccines and college students’ healthcare experiences. The full report, produced for the ACHA’s CoVAC (Campus COVID-19 Vaccination and Mitigation Initiative), is available here. Also see coverage in the Chronicle of Higher Education and Inside Higher Ed.

Americans say the Supreme Court should uphold rather than overturn Roe v. Wade by a 2-1 margin in the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll, with coverage by NBC News, Forbes, FiveThirtyEight, USA Today, The Week, Anchorage Daily News, The Meridian Star and The Philadelphia Inquirer.

As midterm primary season accelerates, the poll also finds that most Republicans want their party to follow the leadership of former President Donald Trump. Among Americans overall, concerns about the war in Ukraine are widespread and Republicans are more trusted to handle inflation and crime. In addition to coverage by ABC and the Post, results have been picked up by CNN, Axios (here and here), MSNBC News, Newsweek, The Hill, The Week, The Guardian, The Fiscal Times, and the Los Angeles Times, among others.

Nieman Reports, a publication of the Neiman Foundation at Harvard University, has published an article by Gary Langer exploring the responsibilities of the news media in reporting public opinion surveys. The Foundation was founded in 1936 “to promote and elevate the standards of journalism.” See the piece here.