The first step in successful advocacy is listening, deeply and fully, to the voices of those that you hope to influence. The process can be time consuming and resource intensive, but the insights that it yields form the foundation of a campaign that can effectively move hearts and minds.

Through a variety of techniques, including original survey research, cluster analysis, and focus groups, we team with social justice organizations and leaders to build a quantifiable understanding of how communications targets think, feel, and talk about critical values, ideas, and policies. This data is then utilized to develop and test the messages that will build support for policies that expand opportunity. These investments in understanding public opinion have yielded dividends in the form of advocacy activities that are clearer, more concise, and more effectively targeted.

Type Title
Communications Talking Points: Health as a Human Right (2008)

These talking points provide advice on talking broadly about creating a health care system that works for everyone.
Research Media Analysis: California Public Discourse on Immigration (2009)

For much of this decade, immigration has been an important topic on the public agenda. Nowhere is that more true than in California. The state is home to 9.9 million immigrants, its governor is an immigrant, and it is a border state on the front lines of the debate over immigration reform.
Research Public Opinion and Media Analysis: English Language Acquisition Programs and Children of Immigrants (2008)

The report examines public opinion and media coverage of two issues deeply tied to the immigrant experience, English language acquisition and the children of immigrants. The willingness of immigrants to learn English is of great interest to the public, and we have identified some openings to promote pro
Research Public Opinion: State Policy Makers and Human Rights (2008)

This analysis of the interviews in California and Illinois addresses how fifty policy leaders see human rights issues at the state level.
Research Public Opinion: Meta-Analysis of Immigration Opinion Research (2008)

This report synthesizes public opinion research on key immigration issues in the United States at the time of its writing and provides a comprehensive assessment of literature, public opinion, and focus groups on immigration issues in the United States.
Research Public Opinion: Human Rights in the United States (2007)

This research project examined the opinion of three key audiences on human rights in the U.S. as applied to social justice issues:  the American public, social justice advocates not currently using the human rights approach, and journalists who regularly cover social issues.
Research Media and Public Opinion Analysis: African Americans on Immigration (2007)

This report examines African American public opinion about immigration, and immigration coverage in African American media.
Research Public Opinion: How to Work With Public Opinion Research (2004)

This basic primer was written by Loren Siegel based on her work managing the American Civil Liberties Union's public opinion research program during her tenure as Public Education Director (1991-2001).
Page Public Opinion Monthly (January 2010)

A year after the first African American was elected to the office of the  President of the United States, political scientists and pollsters have examined closely racial and voting attitudes to shed light to the 2008 election, and Americans' state of mind about race in general.
Page Public Opinion Monthly (December 2009)

December Roundup:

Looking Back on the Past Year ►
Reflecting on the Last Decade ►
Outlook on the Next Year ►
Expectations for the Coming Decade ►
Page Public Opinion Monthly (November 2009)

November Roundup:

Suspects of Terrorism and Due Process ►
Race in the Age of Obama ►

This month’s insight into the public mind is on rights for suspects of terrorism and due process, and racial attitudes in the age of Obama, a topic which we will continue to track and analyze here over time.
Page Public Opinion Monthly Mission Statement

Public Opinion Monthly: Tracking Attitudes Toward Opportunity
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Public Opinion Sources
Page Public Opinion Monthly: Tracking Attitudes Toward Opportunity

New research studies yield insights on Americans’ perceptions of government and its role in the economy, their life choices on matters such as education during the economic downturn, and their approval (or not) of the stimulus package and the direction of the economy.
Page Immigration Focus Group Research (2009)

New Message Testing for an Effective Immigration Narrative by Lake Research Partners and The Opportunity Agenda
Page Public Opinion: Human Rights Messaging Recommendations (2009)

The Opportunity Agenda completed in-depth public opinion research in spring 2009 to help advocates in building understanding and support for human rights at home. Through a series of focus group discussions, we examined attitudes toward human rights, and how to discuss a range of social justice issues within the context of human rights. Read more.
Page Tools & Resources

We produce a range of communications, legal, advocacy and research tools. 
Blog Post Marching for a better America

This Sunday, people will gather on the national mall for the ‘March for America’ rally. The march demonstrates America’s commitment to finding real solutions to immigration that uphold our nation’s values, allow us to move forward together. It is a commitment to fix the system so that individuals who contribute and participate can live in the United States legally. That means creating a system where undocumented immigrants can register, get legal, learn English and contribute fully.
Blog Post Bi- Weekly Opinion Roundup: The Progressive Millennials and Inter- Generational Conflict

Talking about my generation, a recent survey set out to track the opinions, values, and habits of the millennial generation. Born between 1980 and 1998, this generation is more diverse, educated, progressive and less religious than the generations preceding it. Racial minorities make up 39% of Millennials, aged 18-29 (more, but similar to Generation X).
Blog Post A Government that Reflects America's Values

According to a 2007 poll, Americans define human rights as the rights to equal opportunity, freedom from discrimination, a fair criminal justice system, and freedom from torture or abuse by law enforcement. Despite the current political wrangling over how to reform it, a majority of Americans even believe that access to health care is a human right.
Blog Post Bi-Weekly Public Opinion Roundup

Bi-Weekly Public Opinion Roundup

The upcoming November elections draw near, both Democrats and Republicans are in an election state of mind. Both parties are focusing on trying to appease their voter base, while Obama and his administration push forward to make due on some promises such as health care reform and the repeal of the ‘Don't Ask, Don't Tell’ military policy.
Blog Post Do Americans Think that Government Can Become the Engine of Opportunity?

New research studies yield insights on Americans’ perceptions of government and its role in the economy, their life choices on matters such as education during the economic downturn, and their approval (or not) of the stimulus package and the direction of the economy.

Read the full analysis at Public Opinion Monthly: Tracking Attitudes toward Opportunity.
Blog Post Biweekly Public Opinion Roundup: Americans' Agenda for 2010

Americans perception of today's affairs and recent important events, such as the failed terrorist attack on Christmas Day, the President’s State of the Union Address, and the persistent effects of the recession form their agenda for 2010. Although the public's top priorities for the Administration and Congress laid out by recent surveys show that priorities remain similar to last year (jobs and the economy), there have been some notable shifts. These shifts will have an impact on what will gain enough public pressure to get legislation passed in an election year. Let's take a more careful look at how Americans think about the economy, terrorism, health care, and immigration.
Blog Post Biweekly Public Opinion Roundup: State of the Union and the 2010 Census

The State of the Union speech given on Wednesday by President Obama was a major event this week, and the focus of several polls.  Though Gallup reported that, historically, support for the President is not affected by the State of the Union, a before-after survey conducted by CNN shows that the address bolstered viewers confidence in the administration.  How long this boost will last, and whether it can be generalized to the entire public, remains to be seen.
Blog Post Post-Racial America? Not Yet.

A year after the first African American was elected to the office of the  President of the United States, political scientists and pollsters have examined closely racial and voting attitudes to shed light to the 2008 election, and Americans' state of mind about race in general. If one conlusion was to be drawn, it would be that racism was a important predictor of the 2008 election outcome, and that racial divisions persist in Americans’ assessments of the causes of the problems, and policies to address them.
Blog Post Biweekly Public Opinion Roundup: Media and Public Opinion

The media have a substantial influence on the shape of public opinion, and it is important to understand how the landscape of media is changing, as well as how news coverage portrays issues, individuals and groups of people. The Project for Excellence in Journalism through Pew Research Center recently released two studies, one examining where local news comes from in Baltimore, and another looking at coverage of Latinos in the news.
Blog Post Biweekly Public Opinion Roundup: The Economy, Race Relations, and Entering a New Decade

The end of a year – and especially the end of a decade – warrants both retrospective reflection and predictions of what is to come.  Currently there seems to be much consensus, especially around the 2000s as a decade of struggle and decline for the US.  There is a silver lining, however, in the cautious optimism around the issue of race relations.  As the decade comes to a close, it is still clear that the US is entering the 2010s with much work to do, particularly with the economy and unemployment.  Below is recent public opinion on the past decade, the curr
Blog Post Biweekly Public Opinion Roundup: Latinos in the U.S.

With Eleni Delimpaltadaki

Over the next few decades, the United Sates’ Latino population is estimated to triple, comprising about 29% of US residents. At the same time, voters of Latin descent made up 7.4% of the electorate. In a continuing effort to better understand the attitudes and values of Latinos as expressed in survey studies in the past, we rounded up below findings from recent months.
Blog Post Bi-weekly Public Opinion Roundup - Health Care, and Capitalism

As expected, there are plenty of new public opinion polls on health care and health care reform.  Though some people may already be tired of the topic, it is more important now than ever that we understand where the public stands on health care, how the trends in opinion are changing, and why.  Indirectly related to issues of healthcare is a new public opinion poll on capitalism, twenty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Blog Post Bi-weekly Public Opinion Roundup: Californians on Immigration

For much of this decade, immigration has been an important topic on the public agenda. Nowhere is that more true than in California. The state is home to 9.9 million immigrants, its governor is an immigrant, and it is a border state on the front lines of the debate over immigration reform.
Blog Post Bi-weekly Public Opinion Roundup

with Jill Mizell

Americans are still pessimistic about employment and the economy, according to several recent polls. A majority agree that young people will not achieve the same standard of living as the previous generation or that it is more likely that families will suffer “economic reversals” in the next 5 to 10 years. Support for the stimulus bill has dropped and opinion is now deadlocked on the bill, though some aspects, such as spending on infrastructure and public works, remain popular among a majority. A majority of Americans think that some of the recent federal measures should be lasting, while fewer Americans – although still a majority – feel that President Obama's policies will help in these tough economic times.
Blog Post Public Opinion Roundup: Abortion and Social Rifts

Support for Abortion Slips, Perceptions of Social Rifts Mixed
by Jill Mizell

With the Autumnal Equinox recently behind us, the leaves are starting to fall and the days are finally cooling.  It would seem public opinion on certain hot issues has also started to cool, for better or for worse.  Below are findings from recent studies that show a decline in support for legal abortions although still a majority of Americans oppose increasing barriers to abortion access, and a relatively nonchalant attitude toward racial conflict.  On the flip side, support for making abortions illegal has gained in popularity, and public opinion is heated around perceived conflict between immigrants and the native-born. 
Blog Post Public Opinion Roundup: Going Back to School

We are already well into September, the President is back in the White House, and Congress is in session. As we are re-engaging in the heated public discourse, it's important to know where public opinion stands today, and how it's shifted, if at all, in the past few months. Below is a rundown of important findings on health care reform and from a pioneering survey of immigrants in the US, which were released during the summer. The focus is primarily on data, which can inform advocates' communications, and strategy.
Blog Post Busting the Practice of Myth Busting

As mounting evidence shows, the practice of busting myths - lining up facts to disprove an opponent's false assertions - just doesn't work.  Most recently, Sharon Begley takes on the practice in Newsweek, exploring why people believe nutty stories about health care reform or supposed controversies about the president's birth certificate.  She reports that, basically, people want to believe what they want to believe and they predisposed to ignoring any facts that clash with those beliefs.
Blog Post Bi-Weekly Public Opinion Round-Up

Hope for Health Care Reform?

What does the American public want from health care reform? Here are some of the highlights on public opinion research concerning health care covered by the New York Times, CBS, ABC, and the Pew Research Center this June and July.
Blog Post Americans’ Perceptions of Opportunity – Findings from the 2009 Pew Research Center’s Values Survey

In April 2009, for the 22nd year in a row, the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press asked 3,013 Americans for their opinions on questions it has tracked in its Values Survey since 1987 – including perceptions about the nation’s and individuals’ own financial situation, control of personal finances and mobility, views on health care, race relations, government and much more.

Blog Post Public Opinion Round Up: Demand for Health Care Reform and of What Kind

As lawmakers consider a sweeping overhaul of the nation's health care system, we analysed the most recent public opinion findings, and present them below. The highlights include: 1. Demand for major reform of the system immediately, 2. Guaranteeing that everyone has access to health care is very important, 3.  Americans live in fear of losing their health care coverage, and finally, 4. Public attitudes on reform are reminiscent of those in 1993.
Blog Post Launching Our Bi-weekly Public Opinion Roundup

As President Barack Obama was assuming office in January, 93% of Americans said that restoring public trust in government should be a top priority (63%) or an important but lower priority (30%) for the new President. Take it as an absolute value, this is a stunningly high percentage; put it in comparison with the other seventeen (widely discussed) issues tested in an AP-Gfk survey, and you will find out that only improving the economy, creating more jobs, making the government more efficient and increasing the country’s independence scored higher.

It’s good to be reminded that people crave trust in government — despite well coordinated efforts that tell a different story. I won’t debate here the relationship of the individual to the “state” (an Aristotelian term in loan) but, in my bi-weekly visits to The Opportunity Agenda blog, I will translate the latest findings on public attitudes on public policy issues, voting patterns and trends, elections and elected officials.
Blog Post Emerging Research on Health Care as a Human Right: They Get It

And by "they", we mean the very audiences we need in order to change the conversation about health in this country:  politically active moderates and liberals.  Recent focus groups with these audiences show an apparently growing comfort with not only declaring health as a human right, but also in recognizing what that would mean to health care reform. 
Blog Post New Immigration Reports

The Opportunity Agenda has three new immigration reports:
(Click on the titles for access to the entire report.)
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