Finding Black American Samples for Analysis (Roper Center)

Researchers interested in understanding Black American public opinion, particularly those interested in trends over time or subgroups within the Black population, face a major challenge: finding data. Too few public opinion polls have focused on Black Americans, and national adult polls rarely include enough data from Black respondents to enable analyses. Further complicating the matter, the ways pollsters have measured respondents’ race and ethnicity have varied over time.

To help ease this situation, The Roper Center for Public Opinion Research has partnered with the Cornell Center for Social Sciences to locate and identify Black American data. This guide is intended to help public opinion researchers identify polls that will provide sufficient samples for analyzing Black American public opinion. For a historical overview of Black American public opinion polling, including Roper Center polls focused on Black Americans, we invite you to visit here: Researching Black American Public Opinion