Public Opinion Researchers

Employment of survey research workers is expected to show little or no change through 2023, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. The increasingly competitive economy means that businesses will need to be more efficient and effective in their use of advertising funds, and will need survey researchers to help in this arena. Also, public policy groups and all levels of government are hiring more survey researchers to help identify a variety of issues. Job opportunities should be ample for those trained in public opinion research, particularly those with graduate degrees in market or survey research, statistics, or the social sciences. Those who specialize in marketing, mathematics, and statistics will have the best opportunities. Marketing research firms, financial services organizations, health care institutions, advertising firms, and insurance firms are potential employers.

Despite the prediction of good employment growth, aspiring public opinion researchers should realize that the field is very small and competition is very strong for jobs. Those with a bachelor's degree may have a hard time landing a job. Additionally, the DOL reports that employment growth may slow as a result of changing research methods. For example, "collecting information from social media sites and data mining—finding trends in large sets of existing data—are expected to reduce the need for some traditional survey methods, such as telephone interviews."