The Spring 2026 Global Attitudes Survey conducted by Pew Research Center, a nonpartisan fact tank, employed a rigorous methodology combining telephone, face-to-face, and online interviews. The survey, executed by reputable research firms Gallup, Langer Research Associates, and Social Research Centre, gathered data from national samples across various countries, unless otherwise specified. A comprehensive explanation of the international survey methodology and country-specific sample designs is available through the Pew Research Center’s official channels, emphasizing their commitment to transparency and methodological soundness.
Methodological Framework for Global Insights
The survey’s analytical framework incorporates demographic variables and categorizations derived from external data to provide nuanced insights. Key among these are ideological positioning, religious identification, educational attainment, and country income classifications.
Respondents were asked to place themselves on an ideological scale, allowing researchers to categorize individuals into left, center, or right ideological groupings. This approach facilitates a deeper understanding of how political leanings correlate with attitudes on a wide array of global issues.
Religious identification was assessed by inquiring about respondents’ current religious affiliation. Analysis focused on religious groups with sufficient sample sizes to ensure reliability, while acknowledging that respondents from other religious backgrounds were included in national totals even if their specific group could not be analyzed separately.
To enable cross-country comparisons of educational attainment, the survey standardized educational levels according to the United Nations’ International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED). This ensures a consistent basis for analyzing educational impacts on global perspectives.
Countries were classified as either high or middle income based on World Bank categories, which are determined by per capita gross national income. This classification, a standard in Pew Research Center analyses, has been instrumental in examining trends related to global views on China, satisfaction with democracy, attitudes towards globalization, and perspectives on national identity. Previous Pew Research Center reports utilizing this classification include "International Views of China Turn Slightly More Positive" (July 15, 2025), "Americans Are More Dissatisfied with How Their Democracy Is Working Than People in Other High-Income Countries" (June 10, 2026), "Attitudes on an Interconnected World" (December 6, 2023), and "What Makes Someone Truly Belong in a Country? Views Differ on Importance of Language, Birthplace, and Other Factors" (January 28, 2025).
The American Trends Panel: A Deep Dive into U.S. Public Opinion
Data for this report also draws from Wave 190 of the American Trends Panel (ATP), Pew Research Center’s nationally representative panel of randomly selected U.S. adults. This specific survey was conducted between March 23 and March 29, 2026, with a robust response rate of 87% from a sample of 4,046 panelists, resulting in 3,507 completed responses. The cumulative response rate, accounting for recruitment and attrition, stands at 3%, with a minimal break-off rate of 1% among those who began the survey. The margin of sampling error for the full sample is ±1.9 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.
To ensure more precise estimates for smaller demographic subgroups, the survey included an oversample of Muslim, Jewish, and non-Hispanic Asian adults. These oversampled groups were subsequently weighted to accurately reflect their proportion in the overall U.S. population. The survey was administered by SSRS, utilizing both online (n=3,377) and live telephone (n=130) interviewing methods, with interviews conducted in English and Spanish.
Panel Recruitment and Evolution
Since 2018, the ATP has employed address-based sampling (ABS) for its recruitment process. This involves mailing study cover letters and pre-incentives to a stratified, random sample of households selected from the U.S. Postal Service’s Computerized Delivery Sequence File, which covers an estimated 90% to 98% of the U.S. population. Within each sampled household, the adult with the next birthday is invited to participate. Prior to 2018, the ATP utilized random-digit-dial surveys for recruitment.
The ATP has been recruiting a national sample of U.S. adults annually since 2014. In select years, enhanced recruitment efforts, known as oversamples, have been implemented to improve the accuracy of data for underrepresented groups. Notably, Hispanic adults were oversampled in 2019, Black adults in 2022, and Asian adults in 2023.
Sample Design and Questionnaire Integrity
The target population for this survey encompassed noninstitutionalized individuals aged 18 and older residing in the United States. A stratified random sample from the ATP was utilized, with Muslim, Jewish, and non-Hispanic Asian adults selected with certainty. The remaining panelists were sampled to ensure their representation mirrored the U.S. adult population as closely as possible. Respondent weights are adjusted to account for differential selection probabilities, as detailed in the weighting section.
The questionnaire was collaboratively developed by Pew Research Center and SSRS. Rigorous testing of the online survey platform was conducted by SSRS project teams and Pew Research Center researchers on both PC and mobile devices. SSRS also generated test data for analysis in SPSS to verify logic and randomizations before the survey’s launch, ensuring the integrity of the data collection instruments.
Incentives and Data Collection Protocol
All respondents were offered a post-paid incentive for their participation, with options for a check or gift codes for Amazon.com, Target.com, or Walmart.com. Incentive amounts varied from $5 to $20, adjusted based on the ease or difficulty of reaching specific population segments, a strategy designed to enhance participation among groups with traditionally lower survey response rates.
The data collection field period for this survey spanned from March 23 to March 29, 2026. Surveys were administered via self-administered web surveys or live telephone interviews. For online participants, postcard notifications were mailed on March 23, followed by survey invitations in two phases: a soft launch with 60 panelists on March 23, and a full launch on March 24 for all remaining English- and Spanish-speaking online panelists. Email invitations and up to two email reminders were sent to online respondents.
For telephone interviews, prenotification postcards were mailed on March 20. A soft launch commenced on March 23, aiming for three completed interviews. Subsequently, numbers for all remaining English- and Spanish-speaking phone panelists were dialed throughout the field period. Trained SSRS interviewers made up to six calls to these panelists.
Data Quality and Weighting Procedures
Pew Research Center researchers conducted thorough data quality checks to identify any respondents exhibiting patterns of satisficing, such as excessively high rates of unanswered questions or consistent selection of the first or last answer choice. Based on these checks, five ATP respondents were excluded from the survey dataset prior to weighting and analysis.
The ATP data undergoes a comprehensive weighting process to account for multiple stages of sampling and nonresponse. Each panelist receives a base weight reflecting their probability of recruitment. These weights are then calibrated against population benchmarks to correct for nonresponse during recruitment and panel attrition. If a subsample of panelists was invited to a specific wave, the weight is adjusted for differential selection probabilities.
Among the panelists who completed the survey, the weights are further calibrated to align with population benchmarks, and then trimmed at the 1st and 99th percentiles to mitigate potential precision loss due to weight variance. Sampling errors and tests of statistical significance are calculated considering the effect of this weighting.
The accompanying tables detail the unweighted sample sizes and expected sampling errors at the 95% confidence level for various survey groups. Sample sizes and sampling errors for additional subgroups are available upon request. It is important to note that beyond sampling error, question wording and practical survey implementation challenges can also introduce error or bias into poll findings.
Response Rates and Dispositions
The final disposition of the sample and cumulative response rates are presented in detailed tables, illustrating the thoroughness of the data collection and the efforts made to maximize participation and representativeness. These tables provide a clear overview of how the initial sample was managed through various stages of contact and response, culminating in the final dataset used for analysis. The comprehensive methodology outlined underscores the Pew Research Center’s dedication to producing reliable and statistically sound public opinion data.
