Survey Research Methodology

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Engaging Different Types of Practitioners in the Complex Social Policy Area of Adverse Childhood Experiences

Understanding how stakeholders make sense of and prioritise available evidence can help improve the policies and practices that affect people's lives. A modified Delphi approach could engage with stakeholders with different, overlapping expertise and help open a way to this understanding.

Tom Ling, Michaela Bruckmayer

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Collect Data on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in Health Surveys

The Biden administration wants to promote programs and policies informed by science and to help lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Americans. For researchers to confidently answer that call, the first step is for the government to consistently collect sexual orientation and gender identity data.

Sarah MacCarthy, Marc N. Elliott

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A New Way to Capture the Patient Experience

Researchers have developed a more effective and reliable way for patients to provide narrative feedback about the care they receive. When the right questions are asked, patients' answers can help health care providers better understand the patient experience and learn how they could improve.

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Millennials Worry Less About National Security Than Baby Boomers Do—for Now

Millennials are not as concerned as baby boomers are about national security. But these attitudes may be more about being young than being millennials.

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Why the Polls Were Wrong

RAND's Presidential Election Panel Survey, like other polls, overpredicted the popular vote. But since it focused on the decisionmaking process and how that translated into behaviors, the data could provide deep insights into what happened and how it took pollsters by surprise.

Michael S. Pollard @MichaelSPollard

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Points to Consider When Using Surveys of Cancer Patients

Patient surveys provide unique insights for improving cancer care quality and new opportunities for research. However, features of survey populations such as sampling and early mortality should be accounted for when analyzing the findings.

Catherine L. Saunders, Gary A. Abel

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Taking the American Pulse This Election Season

For the past decade, a unique RAND survey has asked Americans how they feel about the economic crisis, health care reform, and more. Now, it's focused on the 2016 presidential election.

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The Latest from the RAND Presidential Election Panel Survey

RAND's panel survey examines voter attitudes, intentions, and choices, and how these change throughout the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Some sizeable shifts in positions occurred in survey results from December to March.

Michael S. Pollard @MichaelSPollard, Joshua Mendelsohn

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RAND Kicks Off 2016 Presidential Election Panel Survey

RAND's panel survey examines voter attitudes, intentions, and choices, and how these change throughout the 2016 U.S. presidential election. What sets this effort apart from public opinion surveys and political polls is that it surveys the same people over the course of the election.

Michael S. Pollard @MichaelSPollard, Joshua Mendelsohn

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Taking an Interest: What Makes Someone Respond to a Survey

Researchers have two main reasons for caring about non-response. First, it is important to ensure that survey findings are unbiased and representative, and second, concern about survey non-response is a key reason given by those who ignore or chose not to act on the findings of research.

Catherine L. Saunders

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How to Help Surveys Have More Impact

How can researchers and the users of survey research move from a knee-jerk dismissal of survey findings to being comfortable trusting and acting on the findings? Likely ways forward include emphasizing the methodology, triangulating the evidence, acknowledging the limitations, and developing good communication and trust between parties.

Catherine L. Saunders

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Republicans May Make Gains in Midterm Election, but Democrats Remain Strong Nationally

The Republican Party has a strong chance of maintaining control of the House of Representatives and possibly even gaining control of the Senate. But survey results suggest that, while individual races may vary, support for Republican candidates nationwide may be less than support for Democratic candidates.

Katherine Grace Carman, Michael S. Pollard @MichaelSPollard

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Survey Says: House, Senate Races Too Close to Call

Recent survey data suggests competitions for both houses of Congress are too close to call. While reported probability of voting for a given party has remained constant overall, churn in individual responses indicates some voters are changing their minds.

Katherine Grace Carman, Michael S. Pollard @MichaelSPollard

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Voters Give Republicans an Edge in Senate Races, House Too Close to Call

Significantly more survey respondents anticipate Republicans will take the Senate for their state compared to those who anticipate Democrats will. However, there is not a clear difference in opinion regarding the race for the House.

Katherine Grace Carman, Michael S. Pollard @MichaelSPollard

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With Midterm Elections Less Than a Month Away, New Survey Data Shows Many Voters Have Made Up Their Minds

Survey responses indicate many U.S. voters already know how they'll cast their ballots in the upcoming midterm elections. But RAND's unique methodology provides an interesting perspective on those who don't lean strongly toward Republican or Democratic candidates.

Katherine Grace Carman, Michael S. Pollard @MichaelSPollard

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New Survey Data Indicates Increasing Polarization in the Ways Democrats and Republicans View the Role of Government in Reducing Income Inequality

Today, Democrats are more than six times likelier than Republicans to believe the U.S. government should play a role in reducing income inequality. This is not due to differences in age, gender, education, or income distributions among the two parties.

Katherine Grace Carman, Michael S. Pollard @MichaelSPollard

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A New Way to Measure Public Opinion of Health Reform

Whether the public will begin to settle on an overall positive or negative perception of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is very much an open question. But understanding how opinion of the law evolves over time could offer valuable insight into Americans' appetite both for the ACA and for health reform more broadly.

Katherine Grace Carman

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Creating More Savvy Consumers Through Public Reporting

Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS) surveys are designed to capture patients' experiences in a systematic way that facilitates reporting the results publicly to help other consumers make more savvy care decisions. Consumer choices may influence providers to improve the care they offer so that they can effectively compete in the market.

Mary E. Vaiana