This Washington Post-ABC News poll by telephone April 16-20, 2015 among a random
national sample of 1,016 adults, including users of both conventional and cellular
phones. The results from the full survey have a margin of sampling error of plus or
minus 3.5 percentage points. Sampling, data collection and tabulation by SSRS of
Media, Pa.
(Full methodological details appended at the end.)
*= less than 0.5 percent
1. Overall, do you support or oppose allowing gays and lesbians to marry legally? Do
you feel that way strongly or somewhat?
-------- Support -------NET
Strongly
Somewhat
4/20/15
61
40
21
6/1/14
56
39
17
3/2/14
59
39
20
6/9/13
57
37
20
5/5/13
55
35
20
11/11/12*
51
33
17
*2012 "gay marriage"

-------- Oppose --------NET
Somewhat
Strongly
35
10
25
38
8
30
34
10
24
40
11
30
40
9
32
47
11
35

No
opinion
4
6
7
3
5
3

Compare to: Do you think it should be legal or illegal for gay and lesbian couples to
get married? Do you feel that way strongly or somewhat?
--------- Legal --------NET
Strongly
Somewhat
58
41
17
53
39
14
53
39
14
52
36
17
51
32
19
53
36
17
47
31
16
49
31
18
36
24
13
39
NA
NA
32
18
14
38
24
14
39
25
13
41
NA
NA
37
NA
NA

-------- Illegal -------NET
Somewhat
Strongly
36
6
30
42
11
32
39
7
32
43
7
36
45
9
36
44
9
35
50
9
42
46
7
39
58
7
51
58
NA
NA
62
10
52
59
11
48
55
6
49
55
NA
NA
55
NA
NA

No
opinion
6
5
8
5
4
3
3
5
5
3
5
3
6
4
7

3/10/13
8/5/12*
5/20/12
3/10/12
7/17/11
3/13/11
2/8/10
4/24/09**
6/4/06
8/28/05
8/29/04 RV
3/7/04
2/22/04
1/18/04
9/7/03
*Post-Kaiser
**2009 "gay and lesbian" and "homosexual" wordings half sampled. 2005 "gay and
lesbian"
2. Overall, do you support or oppose allowing individual states to prohibit same-sex
marriages? Do you feel that way strongly or somewhat?

4/20/15

-------- Support -------NET
Strongly
Somewhat
36
20
16

www.washingtonpost.com/polls

-------- Oppose --------NET
Somewhat
Strongly
61
17
43

No
opinion
4

 3. Overall, do you support or oppose requiring states to recognize same-sex marriages
performed legally in other states? Do you feel that way strongly or somewhat?

4/20/15

-------- Support -------NET
Strongly
Somewhat
62
41
20

-------- Oppose --------NET
Somewhat
Strongly
36
10
25

No
opinion
2

*** END ***
METHODOLOGICAL DETAILS
This poll was jointly sponsored and funded by The Washington Post and ABC News. The
poll is a random sample adults of the United States, including interviews in English
and Spanish. This questionnaire was administered with the exact questions in the exact
order as appears in this document. These questions were part of an “omnibus” survey in
which other questions were asked before or after these question.
A dual frame landline and cellular phone telephone sample was generated using Random
Digit Dialing procedures. Interviewers called landlines cellular phone numbers, first
requesting to speak with the youngest adult male or female at home. The final sample
included 516 completed on landlines and 500 interviews completed via cellular phones,
including 461 interviews with adults in cell phone-only households.
This survey uses statistical weighting procedures to account
being selected due to landline and cellular phone access and
also corrects for deviations in the survey sample from known
characteristics, which helps correct for differential survey
variation in samples.

differential chances of
household size. Weighting
population
participation and random

The overall adult sample is weighted using a raking procedure to match the demographic
makeup of the population by sex, region, age, education, race/ethnicity, marital
status, population density according to Census estimates. The sample is also weighted
to match phone estimates of the share of the population who are cell phone-only,
landline-only and mixed user populations according to the National Health Interview
Survey.
All error margins have been adjusted to account for the survey’s design effect, which
is 1.4 for this survey. The design effect is a factor representing the survey’s
deviation from a simple random sample, and takes into account decreases in precision
due to sample design and weighting procedures. Surveys that do not incorporate a
design effect overstate their precision.
Contact polls@washpost.com for further information about how The Washington Post
conducts polls.
The Washington Post is a charter member of AAPOR’s Transparency Initiative, which
recognizes organizations that disclose key methodological details on the research they
produce.