FACT WIKI · Concept
Presidential approval ratings
Presidential approval ratings
A presidential approval rating measures how people evaluate the president's performance in office.
How it works
SSRS conducted Pew's April 2026 survey through online and live telephone interviews, with interviews available in English and Spanish.
As one example of survey design, Pew Research Center's April 20–26, 2026 survey used its American Trends Panel, a nationally representative panel of randomly selected U.S. adults. It received responses from 5,103 of the 5,898 panelists sampled.
In that April 2026 survey, Pew oversampled non-Hispanic Asian adults and Hispanic validated Trump voters to obtain more precise estimates for those smaller groups. The groups were then weighted back to their proportions in the population.
Scope and limitations
Approval ratings evaluate job performance, while election polls measure voters' preferences in a particular contest. Primary polls concern the choice of a party nominee; general election polls concern the candidates competing in the general election.
Background and related concepts
Even carefully conducted polls can be inaccurate: public opinion can change, some groups can be harder to reach, and survey methods have limitations.
References
Related stories
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