{"id":101356,"date":"2019-07-16T15:18:29","date_gmt":"2019-07-16T20:18:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/2019\/07\/16\/video-how-is-polling-done-around-the-world\/"},"modified":"2026-04-07T16:19:20","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T20:19:20","slug":"video-how-is-polling-done-around-the-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/methods\/2019\/07\/16\/video-how-is-polling-done-around-the-world\/","title":{"rendered":"Methods 101: How is polling done around the world?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">International surveys provide information\u00a0about how people in different countries\u00a0are thinking about issues, but polling in different\u00a0parts of the world can be very challenging because what works in one country\u00a0may not work in a different country. To learn more about polling basics, watch our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/playlist?list=PLZ9z-Af5ISavJpPlvdMU4T-etIDOUmldk\">Methods 101 video series<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n<nav style=\"line-height:1\" class=\"items-justified-left is-style-pills wp-block-navigation is-content-justification-left is-layout-flex wp-container-core-navigation-is-layout-956e015c wp-block-navigation-is-layout-flex\" aria-label=\"Methods 101 Menu\"><ul style=\"line-height:1\" class=\"wp-block-navigation__container items-justified-left is-style-pills wp-block-navigation\"><li class=\"wp-block-navigation-item wp-block-navigation-link\"><a class=\"wp-block-navigation-item__content\"  href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/methods\/2017\/05\/12\/methods-101-video-random-sampling\/\"><span class=\"wp-block-navigation-item__label\">Random Sampling<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"wp-block-navigation-item wp-block-navigation-link\"><a class=\"wp-block-navigation-item__content\"  href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/methods\/2018\/03\/21\/methods-101-video-question-wording\/\"><span class=\"wp-block-navigation-item__label\">Survey Question Wording<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"wp-block-navigation-item wp-block-navigation-link\"><a class=\"wp-block-navigation-item__content\"  href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/methods\/2019\/02\/07\/methods-101-mode-effects\/\"><span class=\"wp-block-navigation-item__label\">Mode effects<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"wp-block-navigation-item wp-block-navigation-link\"><a class=\"wp-block-navigation-item__content\"  href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/methods\/2018\/08\/06\/video-explainer-what-are-nonprobability-surveys\/\"><span class=\"wp-block-navigation-item__label\">What are nonprobability surveys?<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"wp-block-navigation-item wp-block-navigation-link\"><a class=\"wp-block-navigation-item__content\"  href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/methods\/2019\/07\/16\/video-how-is-polling-done-around-the-world\/\"><span class=\"wp-block-navigation-item__label\">How is polling done around the world?<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"wp-block-navigation-item wp-block-navigation-link\"><a class=\"wp-block-navigation-item__content\"  href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/methods\/2020\/06\/04\/video-what-is-machine-learning-and-how-does-it-work\/\"><span class=\"wp-block-navigation-item__label\">What is machine learning, and how does it work?<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"wp-block-navigation-item wp-block-navigation-link\"><a class=\"wp-block-navigation-item__content\"  href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/methods\/2025\/11\/20\/video-why-have-polls-underestimated-donald-trump\/\"><span class=\"wp-block-navigation-item__label\">Why have polls underestimated Donald Trump?<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"wp-block-navigation-item wp-block-navigation-link\"><a class=\"wp-block-navigation-item__content\"  href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/methods\/2026\/02\/11\/video-how-do-polls-work-when-no-one-answers-the-phone-anymore\/\"><span class=\"wp-block-navigation-item__label\">How do polls work when no one answers the phone anymore?<\/span><\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Methods 101: How is polling done around the world?\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/CV0ZCQyI9M4?feature=oembed&#038;rel=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-css-opacity\" \/>\n\n\n<div style=\"border-width:1px;padding-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--20);padding-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);padding-right:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--20);--block-gap: inherit\" class=\"is-style-alternate wp-block-prc-block-collapsible has-background has-ui-beige-very-light-background-color has-border-color has-ui-beige-dark-border-color\" id=\"transcript\" data-wp-interactive=\"{&quot;namespace&quot;:&quot;prc-block\\\/collapsible&quot;}\" data-wp-context=\"{&quot;collapsibleId&quot;:&quot;transcript&quot;,&quot;isOpen&quot;:false}\" data-wp-class--is-open=\"context.isOpen\" data-wp-init--scroll-into-view=\"callbacks.onInitScrollIntoView\"><div class=\"wp-block-prc-block-collapsible__title\" data-wp-on--click=\"actions.onClick\"><div>Transcript<\/div><button class=\"wp-block-prc-block-collapsible__icon\"><span data-wp-bind--hidden=\"context.isOpen\"><i class=\"icon icon-library__light icon__circle-plus\"><svg style=\"width: 1em; height: 1em;\"><use xlink:href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/plugins\/prc-icon-library\/build\/icons\/sprites\/light.svg#circle-plus\"><\/use><\/svg><\/i><\/span><span data-wp-bind--hidden=\"!context.isOpen\" hidden><i class=\"icon icon-library__light icon__circle-minus\"><svg style=\"width: 1em; height: 1em;\"><use xlink:href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/plugins\/prc-icon-library\/build\/icons\/sprites\/light.svg#circle-minus\"><\/use><\/svg><\/i><\/span><\/button><\/div><div class=\"wp-block-prc-block-collapsible__content\">\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">International polling provides information&nbsp;about how people in different countries&nbsp;are thinking about issues like immigration,&nbsp;technology, religion, you name it.&nbsp;But polling in different&nbsp;parts of the world can be very challenging,&nbsp;because what works in one country&nbsp;may not work in a different country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For this episode of Methods 101,&nbsp;I&#8217;m enlisting the help&nbsp;of some of my colleagues&nbsp;who grapple with those&nbsp;challenges every day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The first step in conducting&nbsp;an international poll is determining where&nbsp;it&#8217;s possible to conduct rigorous survey research.&nbsp;In some countries, governments insist&nbsp;on approving the questionnaire,&nbsp;thus potentially limiting&nbsp;what can be asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In other cases, laws may discourage&nbsp;public opinion research altogether.&nbsp;Also, armed conflicts or political unrest can make it too dangerous to survey&nbsp;in certain parts of the world,&nbsp;but keep in mind, it&#8217;s not just the political&nbsp;or security environment that matters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Polling is a relatively new enterprise&nbsp;in some parts of the world,&nbsp;so there may not be many local partners&nbsp;who have the experience and knowhow&nbsp;to conduct high-quality surveys.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The bottom line is that researchers&nbsp;have to carefully consider whether&nbsp;the necessary research infrastructure and skills&nbsp;are available on the ground,&nbsp;whether conditions are&nbsp;safe for field work,&nbsp;and whether government&nbsp;regulations make it possible&nbsp;to ask the kinds of questions<br>researchers need to ask.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So after pollsters decide&nbsp;which countries to survey&nbsp;they need to determine how&nbsp;to administer the interview.&nbsp;In some countries, nearly&nbsp;everyone has internet access,&nbsp;making online polling feasible.&nbsp;In other parts of the world,&nbsp;telephone usage is higher&nbsp;so telephone surveys are more effective&nbsp;for reaching a representative&nbsp;cross section of the public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But, in countries where many people&nbsp;are not easily reached&nbsp;by the internet or phone,&nbsp;in person or face-to-face&nbsp;interviewing is often used.&nbsp;However, this type of polling&nbsp;comes with its own set of challenges.&nbsp;For example, pollsters&nbsp;conducting face-to-face surveys&nbsp;have to think carefully about&nbsp;where to send each interviewer&nbsp;in order to reach a diverse&nbsp;set of the population&nbsp;while balancing the time&nbsp;and money it requires&nbsp;to travel across a country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Also, in some countries,&nbsp;nearly all households&nbsp;have addresses making&nbsp;it more straight-forward&nbsp;to draw a national sample. But in other countries,&nbsp;many households don&#8217;t have an address,&nbsp;which poses a challenge for&nbsp;interviewers in the fields.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Fortunately, thanks to technology,&nbsp;field interviewers are&nbsp;increasingly provided with&nbsp;GPS-enabled tablets, smartphones, and even satellite imagery&nbsp;to help them conduct random&nbsp;sampling in locations&nbsp;where addresses or up-to-date&nbsp;maps are not available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It&#8217;s also important to determine&nbsp;which languages are spoken in a country&nbsp;so that researchers can translate&nbsp;the questionnaire when needed.&nbsp;Here at the Pew Research&nbsp;Center, for example,&nbsp;we translated our 2018&nbsp;Global Attitudes Survey&nbsp;into more than 40 languages,&nbsp;including 11 languages in India alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Translation raises a whole&nbsp;other set of challenges&nbsp;around consistency though,&nbsp;as researchers want questions&nbsp;to be comparable in terms of meaning,&nbsp;no matter what language&nbsp;they&#8217;re administered in.&nbsp;For instance, to translate&nbsp;the phrase &#8220;a free society,&#8221;&nbsp;you want to ensure that&nbsp;&#8220;free&#8221; is translated&nbsp;to mean &#8220;open&#8221; or &#8220;unrestrained&#8221;&nbsp;as opposed to without cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It&#8217;s also important to&nbsp;avoid idioms or phrases&nbsp;that may be common in one&nbsp;country but not in another.&nbsp;And whenever possible,&nbsp;it&#8217;s a good strategy&nbsp;to have local experts review questions&nbsp;for any cultural or political&nbsp;sensitivities to be aware of.&nbsp;If resources allow, testing&nbsp;the survey in all the languages&nbsp;will help identify whether&nbsp;a translation is confusing&nbsp;or likely to be misinterpreted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So, as you can see, there is&nbsp;no one-size-fits-all approach&nbsp;to conducting an international poll.&nbsp;Success depends on&nbsp;addressing the technological,&nbsp;societal, and cultural dynamics&nbsp;unique to each country,&nbsp;and working with&nbsp;professionals who are trained&nbsp;and local to the country&nbsp;is a critical part in making that happen.<\/p>\n\n<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Polling in different parts of the world can be very challenging, because what works in one country may not work in a different country.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":329,"featured_media":121084,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"layout-full-width","format":"standard","meta":{"sub_headline":"","sub_title":"","_crdt_document":"","_prc_public_revisions":[],"_ppp_expiration_hours":0,"_ppp_enabled":false,"ai_generated_summary":"","relatedPosts":[],"reportMaterials":[],"multiSectionReport":[],"package_parts__enabled":false,"package_parts":[],"_prc_fork_parent":0,"_prc_fork_status":"","_prc_active_fork":0,"datacite_doi":"","datacite_doi_citation":"","_prc_seo_qr_attachment_id":0,"spoken_article_player_enabled":true,"bylines":[],"acknowledgements":[],"displayBylines":true,"footnotes":"","prc_watchers":[]},"categories":[356,401,357],"tags":[],"bylines":[],"collection":[],"datasets":[],"level_of_effort":[],"primary_audience":[],"information_type":[],"_post_visibility":[],"formats":[460,470],"_fund_pool":[],"languages":[],"regions-countries":[],"research-teams":[528],"workflow-status":[],"class_list":["post-101356","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international-survey-methods","category-survey-basics","category-survey-methods","formats-feature","formats-video","research-teams-methods"],"label":false,"post_parent":0,"word_count":849,"canonical_url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/methods\/2019\/07\/16\/video-how-is-polling-done-around-the-world\/","art_direction":{"A1":{"id":121084,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2019\/11\/Methods101.5-Thumbnail-Horizontal.png","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2019\/11\/Methods101.5-Thumbnail-Horizontal.png?w=564&h=317&crop=1","width":564,"height":317,"chartArt":false},"A2":{"id":121084,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2019\/11\/Methods101.5-Thumbnail-Horizontal.png","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2019\/11\/Methods101.5-Thumbnail-Horizontal.png?w=268&h=151&crop=1","width":268,"height":151,"chartArt":false},"A3":{"id":121084,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2019\/11\/Methods101.5-Thumbnail-Horizontal.png","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2019\/11\/Methods101.5-Thumbnail-Horizontal.png?w=194&h=110&crop=1","width":194,"height":110,"chartArt":false},"A4":{"id":121084,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2019\/11\/Methods101.5-Thumbnail-Horizontal.png","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2019\/11\/Methods101.5-Thumbnail-Horizontal.png?w=268&h=151&crop=1","width":268,"height":151,"chartArt":false},"XL":{"id":121084,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2019\/11\/Methods101.5-Thumbnail-Horizontal.png","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2019\/11\/Methods101.5-Thumbnail-Horizontal.png?w=720&h=405&crop=1","width":720,"height":405,"chartArt":false},"social":{"id":121084,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2019\/11\/Methods101.5-Thumbnail-Horizontal.png","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2019\/11\/Methods101.5-Thumbnail-Horizontal.png?w=1200&h=628&crop=1","width":1200,"height":628,"chartArt":false}},"_embeds":[],"watchers":[],"table_of_contents":[],"report_materials":"","report_pagination":{"current_post":null,"next_post":null,"previous_post":null,"pagination_items":[]},"parent_info":{"parent_title":"Methods 101: How is polling done around the world?","parent_id":101356},"materialsOrdered":[],"chaptersOrdered":[],"partsOrdered":[],"partsEnabled":false,"datacite_doi":"","prc_seo_data":{"title":"Methods 101: How is polling done around the world?","description":"Polling in different parts of the world can be very challenging, because what works in one country may not work in a different country.","og_title":"Methods 101: How is polling done around the world?","og_description":"Polling in different parts of the world can be very challenging, because what works in one country may not work in a different country.","schema_type":"Article","noindex":false,"canonical_url":"","primary_terms":{"category":357,"research-teams":528},"custom_schema":[],"og_image":121084,"indexnow_submitted_at":null,"gsc_index_status":{"verdict":"PASS","coverage_state":"Submitted and indexed","robotstxt_state":"ALLOWED","indexing_state":"INDEXING_ALLOWED","last_crawl_time":"2026-04-07T16:43:47Z","page_fetch_state":"SUCCESSFUL","crawled_as":"MOBILE","mobile_verdict":"VERDICT_UNSPECIFIED","mobile_issues":[],"rich_results_verdict":"PASS","rich_results_issues":[],"inspection_link":"https:\/\/search.google.com\/search-console\/inspect?resource_id=sc-domain:pewresearch.org&id=nIV7xIjDA1uqY70tnwpdnA&utm_medium=link&utm_source=api","fetched_at":1775593168}},"prepublish_checks":{"prc-image-alt-text":{"status":"complete","message":"No image blocks in content.","data":null},"prc-about-this-research":{"status":"incomplete","message":"Add an \"About this research\" details block.","data":null},"prc-paragraph-count":{"status":"complete","message":"Found 15 paragraphs.","data":{"count":15}},"prc-internal-link":{"status":"incomplete","message":"Add at least one internal link.","data":{"count":0}}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2019\/11\/Methods101.5-Thumbnail-Horizontal.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"relatedPostsOrdered":[],"bylinesOrdered":[],"acknowledgementsOrdered":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101356","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/329"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=101356"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101356\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":298764,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101356\/revisions\/298764"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/121084"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=101356"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=101356"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=101356"},{"taxonomy":"bylines","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bylines?post=101356"},{"taxonomy":"collection","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/collection?post=101356"},{"taxonomy":"datasets","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/datasets?post=101356"},{"taxonomy":"level_of_effort","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/level_of_effort?post=101356"},{"taxonomy":"primary_audience","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/primary_audience?post=101356"},{"taxonomy":"information_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/information_type?post=101356"},{"taxonomy":"_post_visibility","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/_post_visibility?post=101356"},{"taxonomy":"formats","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/formats?post=101356"},{"taxonomy":"_fund_pool","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/_fund_pool?post=101356"},{"taxonomy":"languages","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/languages?post=101356"},{"taxonomy":"regions-countries","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/regions-countries?post=101356"},{"taxonomy":"research-teams","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/research-teams?post=101356"},{"taxonomy":"workflow-status","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/workflow-status?post=101356"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}