Five public-opinion trends to watch in 2025

The following article by Andrew Parkin appeared in Policy Options on December 30, 2024.

Survey research asks about what just happened. Unfortunately, what everyone really wants to know is: what’s going to happen next?

I don’t pretend to have the answer. But I do have some ideas about what to watch for. Several public-opinion indicators measure the strains that the country experienced in 2024. Tracking them over the course of 2025 will signal whether our wounds have deepened or are starting to heal.

Here’s a list of five trends to watch.

Continue reading.

Andrew Parkin is the executive director of the Environics Institute for Survey Research.