Title: Response from Pew Research Center to “In Polls We Trust” | Alan Cooperman | First Things
Headings: Response from Pew Research Center to “In Polls We Trust”
Response from Pew Research Center to “In Polls We Trust”
Articles by Alan Cooperman

Content: Response from Pew Research Center to “In Polls We Trust” | Alan Cooperman | First Things
Response from Pew Research Center to “In Polls We Trust”
The following is an official response from the Pew Research Center to Robert Wuthnow's article, “In Polls We Trust,” from the August/September issue of First Things. Read Wuthnow's response to Pew here. —Ed. I n his essay in your August issue, “ In Polls We Trust ,” Robert Wuthnow highlights several important challenges researchers conducting surveys about religion face. Chief among them is the steep decline in response rates to telephone polls. This is indeed a serious issue; the response rate in a typical Pew Research Center poll fell from 36 percent in 1997 to 9 percent today. Consumers of public opinion polls should always consider methodology and response rates when interpreting survey findings. To the extent that his essay inspires consumers of poll results to pay attention to the details of data collection, Wuthnow offers important advice. But readers should not conclude that declining response rates make polls meaningless.