Methodology in Brief 

The second annual Yankelovich Democracy Monitor, a nationally representative survey of 1,000 American adults 18 and older, was fielded from November 6 to December 28, 2019, by telephone, including cellphones, and online. A total of 750 interviews were conducted by phone and 250 were completed online. Respondents completed the survey in English. This report also includes data from the first Yankelovich Democracy Monitor survey fielded in 2018.[1]

The final data were weighted to balance the sample to known national population parameters based on U.S. Census Bureau data for each of the four census regions and to correct for systematic under- or overrepresentation of key demographics. The maximum standard error range (margin of error) for the total weighted sample is +/- 3.1 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level. It is higher for questions that were not asked of all respondents and for subgroup results.

Before developing the survey, Public Agenda conducted three demographically diverse focus groups with adults 18 and older in June and July 2019 in New Rochelle, New York; Jackson, Mississippi; and Cincinnati, Ohio.

The Kettering Foundation served as a collaborator in this research. The survey was fielded by Wiese Research Group. Public Agenda designed the survey instrument and analyzed the data.

[1] David Schleifer and Antonio Diep, “Strengthening Democracy: What Do Americans Think?,” Public Agenda, 2019. https://publicagenda.org/reports/strengthening-democracy-what-do-americans-think/.