Frequently Asked Questions

Who are you guys?
Public Agenda is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization working to strengthen our democracy’s capacity to tackle tough issues. We want to ensure the public’s views are represented in decision-making and that citizens have the tools and information they need to grapple with the critical challenges of the day. We conduct public opinion research, we run public engagement programs around the country, and we run this Web site to give both citizens and leaders the information they need to know.

For more information, you can look over our sections on Who We Are, What We Do, and Our Funders.

Who pays for your work?
You can see a list of our major funders here, or check us out on Guidestar.org. When a foundation pays for a specific project, that funder is always listed in the report. We always retain final editorial control over our work – our conclusions are our own.

If you like Public Agenda's work, you can also make an secure individual donation.

I had a link to your site and now it’s dead. What gives?
All the content is still here, but a lot of it has moved. To find it again, try our search function. Lots of people also link directly to material from our issue guides and to our research studies. You’ll find those links at the top of every page.

Can I use PublicAgenda.org material on my site?
Sure! PublicAgenda.org is made available under a Creative Commons license. The details are here but basically that means you can use our material for noncommercial purposes, so long as you attribute it to us and link back to PublicAgenda.org.

For commercial use (such as reprinting our material in a book) contact us at editorial@publicagenda.org to get permission.

How can I cite your material in my research paper?
There are a number of good guides to citation style available online.

I’m a journalist working on a story and I’d like to interview someone at Public Agenda.
We’ve created our Media portal to get journalists the information they need. You can also contact Samantha DuPont (media@publicagenda.org) in our Research Department.

I’d like to hire Public Agenda to conduct a survey.
You can contact our Research Department at research@publicagenda.org. Our portals for Policymakers and Educators showcase our public opinion research.

I’m interested in improving our public schools.
So are we. We’ve been working on education reform for more than 15 years, and our Educators portal brings together our opinion research and expertise in public engagement. To find out how we can work with you in your community, contact our Education Insights unit at EdInsights@publicagenda.org.

Our community needs help bringing people together to solve a tough problem.
That’s what our Public Engagement Department is all about. Our Public Engagers portal brings together our research and our discussion materials, designed to help get communities talking and finding solutions. If you’re interested in having us work in your community, contact Lara Birnback at lbirnback@publicagenda.org.

How do I know I can trust the information and options you're presenting are unbiased?
Public Agenda isn't pushing any particular solution, and we hope that comes through in our materials. If you read them, we think you'll agree, and if not, let us know -- we're open to comments and suggestions.

But beyond that, we're open about our sources. In the issue guides, we clearly show where our data comes from, and we stick to the most credible sources: U.S. government statistics from places like the Census Bureau and other federal agencies, the best international sources like the World Health Organization and the International Energy Agency, as well as respected think tanks and universities. We avoid data from advocacy groups.

When we create Choiceworks – the discussion frameworks you'll see on PublicAgenda.org and used in our engagement work – our goal is to help people make up their own minds by laying out different options, with the pros and cons of each approach. We examine how experts from different points of view frame the options, but we also frequently conduct focus groups to hear how citizens define the problems. If possible, we test the Choiceworks in focus groups as well to make sure they set up a balanced discussion.

When we present our own public opinion research, we always provide full questionnaires and methodological detail, and we follow the "best practices" for transparency developed by the American Association of Public Opinion Research. We always show who funded the research as well.

Any public opinion data we cite from other organizations also must meet AAPOR standards, and we only use well-known organizations like Gallup, Pew, and the top media surveys.