Public opinion research in the new century: Reflections of a former POQ editor

Abstract

This article takes note of trends shaping public opinion research at the turn of the twenty-first century, as reflected in the pages of Public Opinion Quarterly. Three trends in particular are discussed: (a) refinement in understanding the nature of the survey response; (b) concerns over changes in communication technologies, and the challenges and opportunities they present to opinion research; and (c) worries about the quality of mass opinion, and especially the ways it might be shaped by subtly persuasive processes such as attitude priming. © The Author 2011.