Field Polls

The Field (California) Poll began in 1947 as an independent, non-partisan, media-sponsored public opinion news service and has issued over 2,400 different reports since that time.

During its long history, The Field Poll has acquired a national reputation as a consistently reliable and authoritative source of public opinion trends in California. News stories quoting The Field Poll appear regularly in national and state media. References to findings derived from the poll appear in hundreds of published works by scholars, political and social writers.

Unfortunately, The Field Poll closed at the end of 2016. While The Field Poll has closed, the archive of data sets and press releases is still available.

Accessing Field Polls

Field Poll data are provided through an arrangement with UCDATA at the University of California at Berkeley. Follow the instructions found here.

Notes:

  • Published work or any form of public dissemination must include the following disclaimer: Data for this study, originally collected by the Field Research Corporation, were provided by the University of California Data Archive & Technical Assistance (UCDATA). UCDATA is not responsible for the analysis and interpretation of the data appearing here.
  • Access to these embargoed files is IP authenticated, and is not available from off-campus computers.

Setting Up Your Browser to Download Files from UCDATA

Note: The instructions provided here are for the Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, and Firefox browsers and the Windows 7 or Windows 8 operating systems.

To download files form UCDATA, you will need to enable passive FTP. We recommend that you also enable FTP folder view. For Firefox, these are the default options, so no changes are necessary. For Chrome and Internet Explorer, you may need to change the preset options. If you are using a university computer, you may need to have administrative privileges to do this, so consult your IT support.

To check (and, if need be, change) Internet options for Chrome and Internet Explorer:

  • Close your browser
  • Click on your start button (Windows 7), or tap or click on "Settings" (Windows 8). Then click (or tap) on:
    • "Control Panel"
    • "Network and Internet"
    • "Internet Options"
    • "Advanced"
  • Scroll down to "Enable FTP folder view" and "Use Passive FTP" and make sure that they are checked
  • Click (or tap) on "Apply" and "OK"

Field Poll Press Releases

Field Poll press releases from 1996 through 2016 are available here.

Press releases prior to 1996 are available on the UCDATA website. Scroll down the page and you will find a link to browse the press releases.

Additional Resources

Last Updated: March 27, 2017.