How big will tonight's "wave election" be and what will we call it tomorrow?

Some are using the term "tsunami." Others are calling it a hurricane.

I think that there is a strong case to be made that this is less a wave election like 1994 and more like the...

The Pew Research Center recently published its report titled "Millennials, A Protrait of Generation Next. Confident, Connected, Open to Change." It's a wide-ranging, data-driven portrait of the roughly 50 million Americans between the ages of 18-29.

Of course, one of the larger differentiators between Millennials and other American generations...

Thank you Mark and Nate for the thoughtful critique of my post regarding incumbents polling under 50%. I think this is an excellent example of the kind of smart, civil dialogue we can have around polling data. And, I think it serves the public interest well.

The data...

This morning, like every morning, I quickly scanned First Read from Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, Domenico Montanaro, and Ali Weinberg.

I enjoy First Read and very much like Chuck Todd, but I will admit that I threw down my Blackberry in complete frustration after reading the following:

*** Buckeye...

Was the financial crisis of 2008 a global turning point? Did it mark the earliest stage in the decline of US power? Will historians view the financial crisis and the Great Recession as the beginning of a multi-polar world?

StrategyOne explored this issue further by using its proprietary Beltway...

Exclusive to pollster.com readers StrategyOne has fresh data from its Beltway Barometer survey on where DC elites think the economy is headed.

StrategyOne's Beltway Barometer survey asked Washington elites if they thought the economy:

1. Has already bottomed out and is getting better
2. Is at bottom and...

Although we're still nine (9) months away from the 2010 elections, DC elites are already handicapping the outcome.

In order to get a better sense of what official and political Washington is thinking about the 2010 elections, StrategyOne appended a question on our recent Beltway Barometer survey. The full (crosstab)...

Today, we look again at the data under our virtual tree.

What cultural artifact is most likely to top an American Christmas tree?

The answer is an angel, narrowly. 44% of Americans report having an angel atop their Christmas tree and 38% report a star. Interestingly, 12% report...

While many have predicted or heralded a rebounding economy here in the United States, unfortunately the American consumer is just not there yet.

StrategyOne research from a national telephone survey conducted November 17-22, 2009 finds that:

1. While 5% of the American public describes the economy as doing...

They say actions speak louder than words.

If this is true, then Democratic Representative Bart Gordon's recently announced retirement is the equivalent of a loudspeaker.

Some folks were trying to minimize the announced retirements of Dennis Moore (D-KS), John Tanner (D-TN) and Brian Baird (D-WA). And, to...

With the Christmas season in full swing, we decided to take a look at some of the changing American behaviors surrounding our annual December festivities.

To do this, StrategyOne conducted some brief national survey research (n=1,000 adults Dec. 4-7, 2009) on a range of holiday topics. We'll be putting...

Each year a very large number of trade associations, consumer groups, unions, and citizen associations run campaigns in Washington either advocating or opposing legislation or regulation.

Each group has a different set of resources at their disposal. Some have a wealth of activist membes, but little money in the bank....

With so much discussion about US policy in Afghanistan, its worth taking the time to understand what the Afghan people are thinking. One way to do this is to read the Asia Foundation's fifth public opinion poll in Afghanistan. Conducted in the summer of 2009 (June 17-July 6), this survey...

As many others have noted, the President's job approval scores are stronger among the young (18-29) than they are among older voters.

For a quick visual synopsis of this, Gallup has a nice breakdown here.

Looking just at the Nov. 30-Dec. 6 time series, you can see that...

For an entertaining and thought provoking read on this subject and the dataset I posted previously on metaphors that Americans use for their life, I recommend reading Oliver Burkeman's column in The Guardian here.

Anyone interested in research trends should read Jane Mount's Ten Trends for 2010 here.

The research industry, of which polling is a subset, is changing rapidly and there are a number of fast moving trends at work.

Mount's are:

In-Sourcing: Client side market research functions stretch budget by using...

For a look at global survey data that is both fascinating and a window on things to come, I highly recommend reviewing the NEWSWEEK-Intel Global Innovation Survey of 4,800 adults in the US, China, Germany and the UK. It was conducted this fall and can be found here.

Key...

Political polling is a subset of the opinion and market research industry. And it is a big business.

But how is this business doing?

Political polling (which drives the majority of the visitors to this site) is a fairly predictable business driven by the electoral calendar and not by the...

In a grounbreaking study of legislative staffers from Congress, the UK Parliament, the EU Parliament, the French Assembly and the German Bundestag conducted for Edelman, StrategyOne found that staffers regularly access digital outlets and social media to research, influence and set policy. Nearly every staffer (96%) uses online resources for...

You often hear metaphors for life. They run the gamut from a battle to a box of chocolates.

But what metaphors do Americans apply to their own lives? What metaphor do they believe most describes their own life?

I've wondered about this for some time as a researcher. More than...