The Perils of Perception - Data Archive

We’ve been conducting work on public misperceptions for several years now. From military facts to personal finances we have a wealth of fascinating data which you can explore here.

The Perils of Perception - Data Archive - Ipsos

archive ipsos
Fake news, filter bubbles and post-truth are other people’s problems…

A major new Ipsos study of over 19,000 people in 27 countries highlights how we think fake news, filter bubbles and post-truth are things that affect other people, much more than ourselves.

archive ipsos
Sexual fantasies: our misperceptions about the sex lives of young people

Young people are having a lot less sex than you think – and men are particularly wrong about the sex lives of young women. People are not honest about their number of sexual partners – and American men think American women have an incredibly high number of partners.

archive ipsos
Perils of Perception 2017

Across all 38 countries in the 2017 study, we still see each population getting a lot wrong. People are most inaccurate about figures such as the murder rate and the number of people who die from terrorist attacks each year, but in this new study we also show that we’re often unduly pessimistic about how healthy people are, as well as overestimating how connected they are to technology.

archive ipsos
Perils of Perception 2016

Across all 40 countries in the 2016 study, each population gets a lot wrong, such as the proportion of our population that are Muslims and wealth inequality. We also show that we’re often unduly pessimistic about how happy people are and our tolerance on controversial issues such as homosexuality, sex before marriage and abortion.

archive ipsos
European Union Perils of Perception

This survey, published before the 2016 EU referendum showed that many of the public were still very shaky on fundamental aspects of our relationship with the EU going into the referendum.

archive ipsos
Perils of Perception 2015

Across all 33 countries in the study, each population gets a lot wrong. People are often most incorrect on factors that are widely discussed in the media or highlighted as challenges facing societies, such as the proportion of young adults still living at home, immigration and wealth inequality.

archive ipsos
Perils of Perception 2014

In 2014 Ipsos conducted a 14 country study highlighting how wrong the public are about the basic make-up of their populations and the scale of key social issues.

archive ipsos
Hearts and Minds: misperceptions and the military

In 2014 Ipsos and King's College London released an international survey that highlighted what the public in Britain, the US, France, Australia and Canada get right and wrong about the military and the armed forces.

archive ipsos
On the money!

A 2014 Ipsos study showed significant misperceptions about personal and public finances. In particular, the cost of the big life events ­ like having children, going to university and retiring ­ that people underestimate which has implications for the financial services industry and government alike, as well as the wellbeing of the general population.

archive ipsos
Perils of Perceptions 2013

In 2013 Ipsos released the first in a series of studies on the Perils of Perception. Working in conjunction with the Royal Statistical Society and King¹s College London Ipsos aimed to highlight how wrong the British public can be on the make-up of the population and the scale of key social policy issues.

archive ipsos
Business and tax

People significantly underestimate how much tax revenue comes from businesses, a poll conducted by Ipsos on behalf of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) finds. On average the public think only 17% of total tax revenue is provided by business. In fact, in 2014, business paid nearly £175 billion in tax – 29% of all taxes.

archive ipsos
Causes of death

This 2020 study highlights public misperceptions across 32 countries about the proportion of people who die from diseases, violence, transport injuries and other causes. While patterns differ in different countries, overall on average people tend to underestimate how many deaths are caused by cancers and cardiovascular disease, and overestimate how many are caused by transport injuries, substance misuse and violence.