Research FAQs

Is the Roper Center the same as the Roper Poll?

There is no connection today between the non-profit Roper Center for Public Opinion Research at the University of Connecticut and the for-profit Roper Poll owned by GfK Group.  Public opinion pioneer Elmo Roper founded both organizations, but they are completely separate entities.

How do I properly cite the data I use from the Roper Center?

Publications based on Roper Center data collections should acknowledge the Roper Center and the organization(s) that originally sponsored and collected the data. Click here for more information on how to cite our data.

How do I access Roper Center resources when I am off-campus?

Member university faculty and students may access Roper Center resources while off campus by logging into the proxy server or Virtual Private Network (VPN) typically available through your university library.

See if your university is currently a member of the Roper Center by visiting List of Members. If you are still unsure of your university's status, call (860)486-4440 or email rcweb@ropercenter.uconn.edu.

I want to conduct a survey of my own. Can the Roper Center help?

You can use iPOLL and documentation to Roper Center data to get ideas about how to ask questions. However, the Roper Center does not conduct surveys or provide detailed advice on survey design.

What formats do you provide data in?

Most datasets from before the 1990s are ASCII ("raw data") format. Many more recent datasets are SPSS portable files. Some older, particularly non-US studies are in column-binary formats. Center staff will convert these to more contemporary formats (ASCII or SPSS) for members upon request.

Can I get information on response rates and sampling procedures?

The documentation for a given survey usually gives basic information on sampling procedures. Working with data contributors, the Center is currently enhancing efforts to provide more complete methodological details. Please contact us for additional information.

How is the Roper Center different from ICPSR?

Both the Roper Center and ICPSR provide access to social science data. The Roper Center focuses on public opinion data primarily collected by commercial and media survey organizations, while ICPSR archives broader based social science data from academic or government sources. Public opinion data is a small portion of the ICPSR collection and overlaps only slightly with the Roper Center's collection of polls.

 

 

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