Methodology

Pew Research Center released the methodology for its Spring 2026 Global Attitudes Survey, detailing a mixed-mode design of telephone, face-to-face, and online interviews conducted across national samples under the direction of Gallup, Langer Research Associates, and Social Research Centre [1]. The survey measures political ideology using country-specific scales. In most nations, respondents placed themselves on a continuum from “Extreme left” to “Extreme right,” while in Japan, Singapore, South Korea, and Thailand the scale ranged from “Extremely progressive” to “Extremely conservative” [1]. The U.S. sample used a conservative-moderate-liberal framework, and ideology was not asked in Ghana, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Malaysia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, or the West Bank and East Jerusalem [1]. Countries are classified as high or middle income based on World Bank per capita gross national income categories, a scheme Pew has used in prior analyses of global views of China and satisfaction with democracy [1]. The U.S. component relied on the American Trends Panel, a nationally representative panel of randomly selected adults. Wave 190 was fielded March 23–29, 2026, with 3,507 panelists responding out of 4,046 sampled, yielding a survey-level response rate of 87% [1]. The cumulative response rate accounting for nonresponse to recruitment and attrition was 3%, and the break-off rate among those who logged on was 1% [1]. The full sample carries a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 1.9 percentage points [1]. The survey included an oversample of Muslim, Jewish, and non-Hispanic Asian adults to improve precision for smaller demographic subgroups [1]. SSRS administered the survey via online (n=3,377) and live telephone (n=130) interviews in English and Spanish [1]. Methodology, broadly understood, is the study of research methods and the structured procedures for acquiring or verifying knowledge claims [7]. Quantitative approaches, dominant in the natural sciences, rely on precise numerical measurements and often aim for universal laws, while qualitative research, more common in the social sciences, prioritizes in-depth understanding over numerical exactness [7]. Pew’s mixed-mode design reflects a trend among social scientists toward mixed-methods research that combines quantitative and qualitative elements [7]. The choice of method carries weight because the same factual material can lead to different conclusions depending on the methodology employed [7]. Gallup, one of the fieldwork organizations for the survey, is an American analytics and advisory company founded by George Gallup in 1935 and known for public opinion polling worldwide [10]. The questionnaire was developed by Pew Research Center in consultation with SSRS and tested on both PC and mobile devices before launch [1]. Data quality checks identified five respondents exhibiting satisficing patterns, who were removed prior to weighting and analysis [1].