Product review Public opinion polls Leanne Trimble University

Product review: Public opinion polls Leanne Trimble University of Toronto DLI Ontario Training Dec 7, 2016

Overview Opinion poll: A human research survey of public opinion on a topic(s) Conducted by polling firms, government bodies, academic institutions, non-profit organizations (and combinations thereof)

Pollsters Archives Portals

Who conducts Canadian polls? Polling firms § Environics Research Group § Ipsos Reid § Leger Marketing § Forum Research § Gallup / Canadian Institute for Public Opinion (CIPO) – no longer active § Pollara § Harris/Decima - International firm with operations in Canada § Plus others Research organizations (academic or non-profit) § Institute for Social Research @ York § Environics Institute § Latin America Public Opinion Project (LAPOP) @ Vanderbilt Government bodies & related organizations § Centre for Research & Information on Canada (CRIC) § Canadian Millennium Scholarship Foundation § Health Canada, Industry Canada, and others….

Pollsters Archives Portals

Canadian Opinion Research Archive (CORA) § Housed at: Queen’s University § Date range: 1970 s to present (2013) § Polling organizations included § Decima: Decima Quarterly 1980 -2005 (full run) § Environics Research Group: Focus Canada 1977 -2009; Focus Ontario 1986 -2005 + much more § Environics Institute: Focus Canada 2010 -present § Canadian Election Studies – more on that from Liz! § Centre for Research & Information on Canada (CRIC) 1997 -2003 § Communication Canada – Listening to Canadians 2000 -2004 § Environment Canada, Health Canada, Industry Canada, Public Works & Government Services Canada – poll from the 2000 s § Access: CORA Nesstar Repository (online analysis, no download). Also searchable in ODESI.

Carleton University Library – Data Services § Date range: 1945 -2009 § Polling organizations included: § Gallup/CIPO: 1945 -2000 § POLLARA (formerly Insight Canada) – Perspectives Canada 19922002 § Canadian Millennium Scholarship Foundation (CMSF): Canadian College Student Surveys 2001 -2006; Ontario College & University Applicant Surveys 2004 -2005; Student Financial Survey 2001 -2002 § Centre for Research & Information on Canada (CRIC) 2000 -2003 § Communication Canada – Listening to Canadians 2000 -2004 § Leger Marketing – Voice of the People 2002 -2009 § Full holdings listing here § Access: ODESI (searching open; tabulation & download Ontario universities & other subscribing academic institutions)

Laurier Library + Laurier Institute for the Study of Public Opinion and Policy (LISPOP) § Date range: 1990 – 2007 Released § Ipsos Reid (Angus Reid) polls included: § Ipsos Reid § National Angus Reid Polls – public opinion polling § nearly monthly, 1990 to 1995 § Dominion Institute – Canada Day Polls, Citizenship Polls § 2001 to 2007 § Ipsos Reid Federal Election Exit Poll 2007 § Access: ODESI (OCUL members); Contact WLUL or LISPOP § Status § Library has secured a second donation of files to 2015 § Undergoing assessment and ingest § Ongoing work to revise Laurier-OCUL MOU re access on ODESI

University of Toronto Political Science Department + U of T Libraries § Date range: 2013 -present § Polling organizations included: § Forum Research: Municipal, Provincial & Federal issues polls 2013 present § Access: Political Science Data Archive Dataverse (OCUL institutions + on request). Will also be searchable in ODESI soon.

Forum Federal Issues 2016 poll

Queen’s University Library § Date range: 2014 -present § Polling organizations included: § Angus Reid Institute various polls 2014 -present § Access: Queen’s University Library Dataverse (publicly avaialble) and ODESI

University of Ottawa Library § Date range: 2002 -2011 § Polling organizations included: § Leger Marketing – Voice of the People polls 2002 -2011 in French & English § Access: ODESI (searching open; tabulation & download OCUL + subscribing institutions)

Roper Center § US-based public opinion archive which collects Canadian data § Date range: 1940 s-2003 § Canadian polling organizations included: § Gallup/CIPO: 1945 -2000 (Duplicates Carleton archive in ODESI) § Angus Reid: 1992 -1999 (Some overlap with LISPOP collection in ODESI) § Miscellaneous other polls: § Kaiser Family Foundation poll on unplanned pregnancy 1995 § Canadian-American Survey 1989, § “Left-Right Hand Study” 1960 s § Access: Roper Center (subscription-based)

ICPSR § US-based social science data archive which collects some Canadian data (not a huge amount) § Date range: 1960 s-1990 s § Primarily non-commercial research groups, e. g. : § Annexation to the United States 1964; Opinions of the urban public of Canada on Canadian-American Relations (Social Research Group, Montreal) § Access: ICPSR (subscription based)

Pollsters Archives Portals

Review: Main access points § ODESI § Contents § Includes the main collections archived at academic institutions in Canada § Search & link to CORA § Search & link to ICPSR § Access § Search tool & variable browse/frequencies is openly available § Data download - accessible to all Ontario academic institutions; outside Ontario available to subscribing institutions § No ODESI? § CORA (Anyone can view variables/frequencies, no download) § Roper Center (Subscription-based) § ICPSR (Subscription-based) § For university-based archives, first search ODESI, then contact the relevant archive directly; most have agreements allowing them to share for academic research

What’s missing? § Recent polls § Many of the archives stop in the 1990 s or 2000 s § Firms don’t want to donate their work to archives until they can no longer profit off them § For recent data, generally no datasets are available for download § Must rely on published reports – from the polling firms (try their websites) or other organizations that commissioned the studies § A great source for reports of government-commissioned studies is Government of Canada’s Public Opinion Research Reports website (2006 -present)

Beyond Canada § US public opinion polls § Roper Centre (subscription) § ICPSR (subscription) § Pew Research Centre (free - datasets released about 5 months after they are conducted) § International polls § Polling the Nations (subscription) § Afrobarometer (free) § Eurobarometer (free interactive browse tool; data download via ICPSR or GESIS) § Americas. Barometer (free - includes Canada) § World Values Survey (free)

Questions?