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Pliny's Point on January 31, 2017
January 31, 2017: An average of recent polls indicates that 32 percent of respondents believe the United States is headed in the right direction. Since last week, this rating has improved by two points, due to recent polls by The Economist/YouGov and Rasmussen Reports. The polls included in this average are included below, showing results ranging from a 22 percent to a 47 percent favorable rating.
Poll sources and percent of respondents who think the U.S. is headed in the right direction:
- CBS News (1,257 adults surveyed between 1/13 and 1/16): 29 percent[1]
- Rasmussen Reports (3,000 likely voters surveyed between 1/22 and 1/26): 47 percent[2]
- Economist/YouGov (2,312 registered voters surveyed between 1/23 and 1/25): 29 percent[3]
- Reuters/Ipsos (1,633 adults surveyed between 1/20 and 1/24): 22 percent[4]
- Wall Street Journal/NBC (1,000 adults surveyed between 1/12 and 1/15): 37 percent[5]
- Washington Post/ABC (1,005 adults surveyed between 1/12 and 1/15): 29 percent[6]
Methodology
For Ballotpedia's presidential approval, congressional approval, and direction of the country polling results, we take an average of the most recent polls on one or more of these topics conducted by 12 sources. Polls may be included in the average for up to 30 days, though this timeline may be adjusted to account for major news events as we attempt to balance the need for a larger sample of results with the need to remove outdated information. For a full description of our methodology and polling explanations, see: Ballotpedia's Polling Indexes.
What's in a name?
Pliny the Elder, a scholar from the Roman Empire, is most well known for writing the encyclopedic work Naturalis Historia, or “Natural History.” His extremely thorough work covered everything from botany to technology. Naturalis Historia, one of the largest Roman works that still exists from the first century A.D., became an example for future encyclopedic works through its formatting, references, and comprehensiveness.
Today, Ballotpedia works to preserve and expand knowledge, just like Pliny did hundreds of years ago. One of the features of Ballotpedia, the encyclopedia of American politics, was a daily statistic called Pliny’s Point. Each day, between January 20, 2017 and September 1, 2017, readers learned where Americans stood on the direction of the country, or their approval of elected officials.
Click here for more Pliny's Point articles.
See also
Ballotpedia daily polling averages:
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Footnotes
- ↑ CBS News Poll, "Expectations for the Trump Presidency," January 13-16, 2017
- ↑ Rasmussen Reports, "Right Direction or Wrong Track," January 30, 2017
- ↑ YouGov, "The Economist/YouGov Poll," January 23-25, 2017
- ↑ Ipsos, "Reuters/Ipsos Data: Core Political," January 25, 2017
- ↑ Hart Research Associates/Public Opinion Strategies, "NBC News/Wall Street Journal Survey," January 12-15, 2017
- ↑ The Washington Post, "Washington Post-ABC News Poll," January 12-15, 2017
