Guides and databases: Data and Statistics: Polling and behaviour

Polling and behaviour

Gallup Analytics
Gallup Analytics contains unique public opinion data and analysis compiled by Gallup. It includes answers to more than 125,000 questions, and responses from more than 3.5 million people interviewed in the Unites States since 1935.
ICPSR You need to create an account in order to download data. ICPSR acquires, preserves, enhances, and distributes original social science research data for research and instruction.

Includes the Survey of Consumer Attitudes and Behavior. Undertaken quarterly in the United States of America, the Survey of Consumers measures changes in consumer attitudes and expectations.

International Election Monitoring: Three Global Datasets on Election Quality, Election Events and International Election Observation (ICPSR 31461) is a data collection focusing on elections and election monitoring throughout the world on the national level.

Mass Observation Online
Featuring, amongst other material, original manuscript and typescript papers from the Mass Observation organisation. The archive was developed to create an 'anthropology of ourselves' and study the everyday lives of ordinary people in Britain. Accessibility statement for Mass Observation Online.
Mass Observation Project: 1981-2009
UCL users have full access to modules 1-3. Mass Observation Project 1981-2009 provides digital access to a unique life-writing archive, capturing the everyday experiences, thoughts and opinions of people living through the final decades of the 20th century and the advent of the 21st century. Accessibility statement for Mass Observation Project: 1981-2009.
Passport
Access for UCL students and staff only, UCL sign in required. Please select 'Institutional login' then choose UCL from the list of institutions. Euromonitor International offers quality international market intelligence on industries, countries and consumers.
Roper iPoll
Roper iPoll is an archive of public opinion surveys data from over 120 countries stretching back to 1935. Questions cover virtually every topic ever polled with data being entered on a daily basis.
Statista
Statista is an online portal for statistics consolidating statistical data on over 80,000 topics from more than 22,500 sources and covering over 170 different industries. UCL users do not have access to the Company database or the Global Consumer Survey. The Research AI assistant can provide useful insights into Statista data, but be aware of the limitations of using generative AI for your academic work.
UK Data Service The UK Data Service is a comprehensive resource funded by the ESRC to support researchers, teachers and policymakers who depend on high-quality social and economic data. Registration is required if you wish to download, order or analyse data online, where this is possible. Use your UCL username and password.

An archive of social science research that makes data available from many key governmental surveys and academic research projects. Content may be downloaded or analysed online on various issues including race, economic wellbeing, voting behaviour and social attitudes.

Includes the British Social Attitudes Survey (BSA). A survey that produces annual measures of attitudinal change. It complements information gathered from large-scale government surveys that deal largely with facts and behaviour patterns, and party political attitudes data produced by polls. The data reflects patterns of continuity and change in political and religious beliefs, social identities, and charts the relative rates at which social attitudes change over time.

The Citizenship Survey provides an evidence base for government policy, principally covering the issues of community cohesion, civic engagement, race and faith, and volunteering.

Selected websites:

Afrobarometer
Publicly available data and statistics from a project that measures the social, political, and economic atmosphere in Africa. Surveys are conducted in more than 30 African countries and trends in public attitudes tracked over time. Notes on methodology and analytical tools are also provided.
AmericasBarometer - Latin American Public Opinion Project (LAPOP)
Data and analysis from a survey of democratic public opinion and behaviour that covers the Americas (North, Central, South and the Caribbean). Americas Barometer is part of the Latin American Public Opinion Project (LAPOP).
Archive of Market and Social Research (AMSR)
This growing archive contains books, research journals, data abstracts and conference papers from the output of research over many decades, allowing users to explore the dynamics of change, particularly in consumer behaviour.
ASEP/JDS Data Bank
Integrates the following collections: Values Surveys, Immigrants Collection, Latinobarómetro, 'The Public Opinion of Spaniards' survey (ASEP, Spain), Afrobarometer, CIRES (Centre for Research on the Social Reality), East-Asian Barometer, Centre for the Study of the Contemporary Reality (CERC), Comparative Studies on Electoral Systems (CSES), Globalbarometer, Real Instituto Elcano de Estudios Internacionales y Estratégicos and International Social Survey Program (ISSP).
Caucasus Barometer
In order to increase the cross-comparison of regional social and economic dynamics, the Caucacus Research Resource Centers (CRRC) began a coordinated data collection effort in 2003 to obtain reliable, comparable data on household knowledge, attitudes and practices across the South Caucasus. The CRRC teams in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia have been collecting data in the South Caucasus on an annual basis since 2004.
Comparative Agendas Project (CAP)
Monitors policy processes by tracking the actions that governments take in response to the challenges they face, and classifies policy activities into a single, universal and consistent coding scheme.
Comparative Constitutions Project
Data on the formal characteristics of written constitutions, both current and historical, for most independent states since 1789.
Comparative Study of Electoral Systems (CSES)
A collaborative program of research among election study teams from around the world. Participating countries include a common module of survey questions in their post-election studies.
Covid-19 survey
A special survey that asks participants about their experiences during the COVID-19 outbreak. Data from the COVID-19 questionnaire will be made available to researchers each month via the UK Data Service.
Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections Data
Provides access to data aggregated at different levels of geography, e.g. presidential elections results by Congressional District. Some aggregated data are free to use but detailed data are by subscription only or can be can purchased as individual files.
European Values Studies
Five waves of EVS surveys were conducted, from 1981 to 2007, addressing a range of social, economic, cultural and religious topics.
Global Indicators Database
A resource developed by the Pew Research Center building on data and statistics from public opinion surveys it conducts around the world. It covers a broad array of subjects ranging from people's assessments of their own lives to their views to important issues of the day. Survey questions, topics and analysis are available for browsing.
International Social Survey Programme (ISSP)
A continuing annual programme of survey collaborations that adds a cross-national, cross-cultural perspective to the individual, national studies. Special topics have included the environment, migration, the role of government, social inequality, the impact of religious background, behaviour, and beliefs on social and political preferences, and national identity. Participating countries vary for each topical module.
Office for National Statistics (ONS) for England and Wales: Elections
Analysis of the number of people registered to vote, including comparisons over time and between the UK constituent countries.
Online Historical Population Reports (OHPR or Histpop)
The Online Historical Population Reports (OHPR) collection provides online access to the complete British population reports for Britain and Ireland from 1801 to 1937. It includes a wealth of textual and statistical material and provides an in-depth view of the economy and society during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It is also popularly known as the Histpop project.
Political Data Yearbook (ECPR)
Political Data Yearbook captures election results, national referenda, changes in government, and institutional reforms for a range of countries, within and beyond the EU in an interactive database.
Understanding Society: the UK household longitudinal study
With participants coming from every area of the UK, the study captures important information about people’s social and economic circumstances, attitudes, lifestyle, health, family relationships and employment.