Frequently Asked Questions

Questions for the SLU/YouGov Poll can be broken down into three overlapping categories.

First, there is a “core” set of questions that will be asked on every survey to shed light on how Missourians’ opinions changed over time (e.g. their perceptions of the economy or crime).

Second, there are questions that directly contribute to Saint Louis University faculty’s research agendas.

Third, there are questions aimed to be relevant to current events or the immediate needs of the Missouri community.

In recent polls, this includes questions on the COVID-19 pandemic and race relations. To build these sets of questions, the SLU Poll directors actively seek input and feedback from across Saint Louis University and encourage the Saint Louis University community to approach the directors with suggestions.

The SLU Poll team welcomes recommendations for questions to ask on future polls. To suggest a question, contact SLU Poll Director Steven Rogers, Ph.D.  Please note, space may be limited on polls.

Within six months of each survey, individual level responses will be posted to the SLU Poll web site SLU Poll web site data archive.

Respondents to the SLU Poll are self-reported likely voters in the state of Missouri drawn from a sample of respondents recruited by YouGov. Most YouGov panelists are individuals who have made an account on yougov.com to receive periodic notifications about new surveys. Others are recruited live from online advertisements or other survey providers. YouGov respondents are compensated by points for taking each survey. Respondents can exchange accumulated points for gift cards and other prizes.

For the February 2026 poll, YouGov interviewed 1,448 Missouri (MO) registered voters, with the goal of screening for and surveying Missouri likely voters. The Missouri registered voters were then matched down to a sample of 1,085, yielding a target subsample of 900 likely voters including 450 from each treatment group. The respondents were matched to a sampling frame on gender, age, race, education and treatment group. The sampling frame is a politically representative “modeled frame” of U.S. adults, based upon the American Community Survey (ACS) public use microdata file, public voter file records, the 2020 Current Population Survey (CPS) Voting and Registration supplements, the 2020 National Election Pool (NEP) exit poll, and the 2020 CES surveys, including demographics and 2020 presidential vote.

YouGov used propensity score weighting. Matched cases were weighted to the sampling frame using propensity scores. The matched cases and the frame were combined and a logistic regression was estimated for inclusion in the frame. The propensity score function included age, gender, race/ethnicity and education. The propensity scores were grouped into deciles of the estimated propensity score in the frame and post-stratified according to these deciles.  The weights were then post-stratified on 2024 presidential vote choice as well as a four-way stratification of gender, age (4-categories), race (3-categories), and education (4-categories). The weighted dataset of registered MO voters was then subsetted on likely MO voters, and the weights were trimmed and recentered around one, to produce the final weights for Likely Missouri voters. 

In 2020, Saint Louis University/YouGov polls were funded by a grant from the Saint Louis University Research Institute’s Big Idea’s competition. The 2021 SLU/YouGov Poll was additionally funded through support from the Saint Louis University School of Education. The SLU/YouGov Poll also receives support from individual SLU researchers who lease time on the survey instrument for their independent research projects.