American National Election Study (ANES) Series

collection: series

Investigator(s): Warren E. Miller et al. and the National Election Studies

Studies

97

Variables

81,805

Publications

6,305

About this Collection

The American National Election Study (ANES), begun in 1948, is the oldest continuous series of survey data investigating electoral behavior and attitudes in the United States. The focus of the survey includes voter perceptions of the major political parties, the candidates, national and international issues, and of the importance of the election. Also explored are voter expectations about the outcome of the election, degree of voter interest in politics, political affiliation and voting history, as well as participation in the electoral process. ANES interviews are conducted before and after presidential elections and after national congressional elections. Post-election interviews include questions on actual voting behavior and voter reflections about the election outcome.

Studies

97 results
Partially restricted

ANES 2024 Time Series Study

The American National Election Studies (ANES) 2024 Time Series is a continuation of the series of election studies conducted since 1948 to support analysis of public opinion and voting behavior in U.S. presidential elections. The 2024 study features a mixed-mode design including in-person, internet, video, phone, and paper-and-pencil interviewing.

Two separate fresh cross-sectional samples were drawn, one for use with in-person interviewing as the primary mode and the second for web interviewing as the primary mode. In addition, the 2024 study features a panel of respondents previously completed the ANES in 2016 and 2020, as well as interviews with individuals who previously participated in the 2024 General Social Survey (GSS).

Restricted

ANES Time Series Restricted-Use Occupation Data, 1996-2024

This study is part of the American National Election Studies (ANES), a time series collection of national surveys fielded since 1948. The American National Election Studies are designed to present data on Americans' social backgrounds, political predispositions, social and political values, perceptions and evaluations of groups and candidates, opinions on questions of public policy, and participation in political life.

This file contains the original, verbatim open-ended responses to survey questions on respondents' occupation and industry. The data cover ANES Time Series studies conducted between 1996 and 2024.

Restricted

Why Are Surveys Struggling to Estimate Vote Shares

This release is a replication resource for the journal article "Why Are Surveys Struggling to Estimate Vote Shares?" (American Journal of Political Science, 28 April 2026). This collection contains data, codebooks, code, and additional documentation to replicate the assessment. The study centers around the question as to whether political surveys are accurate. It is in response to the 2020 U.S. presidential election, during which the political support of candidate Donald Trump was significantly underestimated. The study leverages a large set of data collected alongside the 2020 American National Election Studies (ANES) to identify and quantify sources of error using the Total Survey Error framework. This methodological approach quantifies a non-ignorable nonresponse bias, and reveals that the estimated differential nonresponse is sufficiently large to explain the ANES 2020 Biden-Trump error. This result has broader implications for the presence of bias in political surveys, and informs potential avenues of correction in future survey development.
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