IFES has more than 10 years of experience in conducting innovative and effective public opinion research around the world. Our survey and focus group capabilities provide relevant and reliable information on the opinions and attitudes in a country to government officials, development professionals, political actors, academics and others interested in democratic and political development.

The strength of IFES’ opinion research is its emphasis on adapting public opinion tools to the structural and societal environment in a country. We do not take a one-size-fits-all approach to public opinion research, Rather IFES carefully tailors each project to meet specific goals within existing societal and logistical constraints. To accomplish this, we work closely with local partners in a country to solicit their input on all methodological aspects of the research design. However, a key strength of IFES’ research is its use of a standard set of questions gauging sociopolitical development in most surveys we perform. Data from these questions can help researchers compare attitudes and opinions from country to country and across time in a single nation.

To date, IFES has conducted more than 60 public opinion research projects in 24 countries around the world. A list of our previous survey and focus group projects can be found to the right. Additional information on IFES surveys and focus groups will be added as they are released.