Public opinion surveys – what are they and how to create one?

Public opinion polls are essential to understand what a country’s citizens think about many important issues. Public and private institutions, companies, public relations agencies, the media and even political parties regularly conduct opinion polls to better understand the general sentiment and to be able to take it into account when making decisions.

Polling public opinion is quick and easy, but it must be done in the right way for the data to be reliable and the results indisputable. Here are some tips on how to do it.

What are public opinion studies?

Public opinion studies are research studies that seek to understand the perceptions, attitudes, beliefs, preferences and behaviours of a population or social group with respect to specific issues. These studies are mainly carried out through surveys, although in some cases other research methodologies may also be used.

Public opinion studies are sometimes also called opinion polls, opinion barometers or public opinion surveys. All of these terms are often interchangeable in many cases, but are slightly different:

• Public opinion polls. A poll is a quick and agile public opinion survey. Many media publish polls to shed light on what citizens think about a recent news story. Perhaps a very large or carefully selected sample has not been used, but opinion polling is not so much about accuracy as it is about providing a quick first snapshot after a major political event.
• Public opinion barometers. These are public opinion surveys with regular waves, so that it is possible to understand how general sentiment has evolved between two points in time and to draw future trends.
• Public opinion surveys. Most public opinion studies are based on surveys, so in practice they are synonymous terms.

Who conducts public opinion research?

There are many types of organisations that conduct opinion research and they may do so for many reasons. Here are some of the most common:

• Public institutions. One of the main creators of opinion research is public administrations. This is true at all levels of government. For example, a youth agency may conduct surveys to find out what young people think about issues that affect them and to design communication campaigns. And at the local level, a local council may interview residents in the municipality to get their reactions to a plan to create new facilities. These are two common examples, but there are many more.
• Private institutions. Sometimes the organisations that initiate opinion surveys are private. For example, a tenants’ association may carry out an opinion poll to understand how people rate the ease of access to housing. Or a local business association to find out what local residents think about new transport links to facilitate transport in the area.
• Political parties. All parties conduct regular surveys for citizens to assess public policies, indicate voting intentions or rate the actions of their leaders.
• Media. Television, newspapers, radio and all types of media publish opinion barometers that help to understand the impact of political news.
• Businesses. They generate content to gain notoriety and generate data to help them promote their offerings. For example, a cryptocurrency company may publish an investor opinion survey to make cryptocurrencies better known and accessible to the general public. Or a travel insurance company may conduct an opinion survey on the perception of risk when travelling and publish it to educate the public.
• Communications agencies. Many public and private organisations hire public relations firms to help them create content and news to help them communicate on issues of public interest within their remit.

As you can see, there are a multitude of agents that carry out opinion polls in each country for many reasons. That is why it is so easy to find them in the media.

What is public opinion research used for?

Whoever the organisation conducting the public opinion survey is, it is generally to be used in one of the following ways:

• To measure the general sentiment of a population on an issue (political, social, economic, cultural, etc.).
• To predict future behaviour, such as voting intentions, consumption or participation.
• Inform decision making in sectors such as politics, government, marketing and media.
• Evaluate the impact of campaigns, public policies or social events.
• Communicate and educate using the pulse of citizen opinion as the core of the content.

Sources of public opinion surveys in Spain

Various organisations publish public opinion surveys on a regular basis. Here is a list of the best known in Spain if you are looking for data on specific topics:

How to do a public opinion survey step by step?

If you don’t find the data you need in the available public sources, you will have to create your own survey to collect it. Fortunately, it is very easy if you follow the steps below:

Define the objective of the survey

Before any action, you need to know what you want to investigate: What is the topic of interest (e.g., voting intention, perception of a product, opinion on a public policy)? What decisions will be made with the results? What hypotheses do you have? Reflect all these questions in a single document that everyone involved can refer to whenever necessary.

Determine the universe and sample

Clearly define who you want to study. Many public opinion studies are done with representative samples of the population in the study area. For example, if the study is done in Spain and you use a representative sample of the population, you can talk about what ‘Spaniards’ think in your results.

At other times you may want to study specific segments of the population. For example, voters, workers or Generation Z. In that case you will have to filter your sample.

The size of the sample will depend both on the reliability you want your data to have and the depth of analysis you want to carry out. The more filters you want to use in your analysis, the larger the sample you will need to use.

Choose your research methodology

Most opinion research is based on surveys. This way you can have quantitative data to support your findings.

• Write the questionnaire: make sure that the wording of your questions uses simple language and that your questions are easy to answer for anyone who is not an expert in the subject. Also check that the wording of your questions does not introduce any bias that favours certain answers. Test the questionnaire before launching your survey to identify errors you may have overlooked.
• Choose your data collection technique. Nowadays most surveys of all kinds are conducted online. Through an online panel like We are testers you will be able to access the entire sample you need to interview quickly and efficiently.

Fieldwork and analysis of results

Once you have designed all the elements of your public opinion research, it is time to start the fieldwork. When the desired number of interviews has been completed, you can analyse the data and draw conclusions. You’ve got it!

Public opinion research with We are testers

Whether you are a public or private organisation, you can conduct public opinion research easily and efficiently with We are testers. You will have at your disposal a team of research experts who will help you set up your questionnaire and help you select the most appropriate sample. You can launch the survey yourself using the We are testers research tool or leave it all to our team to do it for you. You decide what’s best for your budget and needs. And with a consumer panel of 130,000 people, you’ll always find the right people to participate in your public opinion research.

Ready to conduct public opinion research? Contact our experts to help you get started.