A RECENT AND SUDDEN change to polling approaches has greatly expanded what we know about public opinion here in Massachusetts. The rapid expansion of “oversampling” happened during the nationwide upheaval following the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer. In essence, oversampling means collecting extra respondents from a relatively smaller group to ensure […]
Steve Koczela
Steve Koczela is the President of The MassINC Polling Group, where he has grown the organization from its infancy to a nationally known and respected polling provider. During the 2014 election cycle, MPG conducted election polling for WBUR, the continuation of a three-year partnership. Koczela again led the endeavor, producing polls which came within one point of the margin in both the Massachusetts gubernatorial and U.S. Senate Elections. He was also lead writer for Poll Vault, WBUR’s political reporting section during the 2014 Election Cycle.
He has led survey research programs for the U.S. Department of State in Iraq, in key states for President Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign, and has conducted surveys and polls on behalf of many private corporations. Koczela brings a deep understanding of the foundations of public opinion and a wide ranging methodological expertise. He earned U.S. Department of State recognition for his leading edge work on sample evaluation in post conflict areas using geospatial systems.
Koczela is frequent guest on WBUR as well as many other news and talk programs in Massachusetts and elsewhere. His polling analysis is often cited in local, state, and national media outlets. He currently serves as President of the New England Chapter of the American Association for Public Opinion Research (NEAAPOR). Koczela holds a Master’s degree in Marketing Research from the University of Wisconsin and is a veteran of the war in Iraq.
Posted inEducation
Hesitancy over childhood vaccines could prolong education inequities
A NEW POLL of K-12 parents in Massachusetts foreshadows potentially huge gaps in childhood vaccination rates once an FDA approved vaccine is available for children. These gaps are reminiscent of what we are already seeing with adult vaccinations, but could pose specific challenges to K-12 schools down the road. Schools in Gateway Cities, those with […]
Posted inNews Analysis
Poll indicates Baker remains wildly popular
A NEW POLL from The MassINC Polling Group out this week finds Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker still riding high with 74 percent approval and just 20 percent disapproval among the state’s residents. Those numbers are basically unchanged from the 73 percent figure found in the last MPG statewide poll taken in December 2020. Over and […]
Posted inNews Analysis
Voters hold Beacon Hill in high esteem
POLITICS IS NOT all toxic. Here in Massachusetts, voters hold political leaders in very high regard. The state Legislature has climbed to 65 percent approval in a poll we released last week, the highest we have seen in our polling going back over a decade. Gov. Charlie Baker sports a 73 percent approval rating and […]
Posted inOpinion
Pandemic will leave PTSD in its wake. I should know.
THE END OF the COVID war came into sight this week. The sight of vaccines going into arms signals the final push is underway. But the echo of this war will sound long after the threat of illness has passed, and we need to be ready for the challenges that are ahead. As we draw […]
Posted inOpinion
Not easy being young during COVID
WE’VE KNOWN for as long as COVID-19 has been in our collective headspace that the illness is most threatening to older people. But when it comes to financial and mental health, the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic fall most heavily on young people. Since the beginning of the pandemic, the MassINC Polling Group has surveyed […]
Posted inEducation
Parents take stock of the school year that was (or wasn’t)
SCHOOL’S OUT FOR the summer. Is school out forever? Parents hope not, describing very mixed experiences with the remote learning experience that began in March. The MassINC Polling Group recently surveyed 1,502 parents statewide and found there was no single story that describes what parents went through from mid-March to June, but rather thousands of […]
Posted inNews Analysis
Parents divided over the coming school year
PARENTS ACROSS MASSACHUSETTS are sharply divided along racial lines on how they want the next school year to unfold and whether schools have the ability to operate safely, according to a new poll by the MassINC Polling Group. The questions on reopening were part of a larger statewide survey sponsored by The Barr Foundation and […]
Posted inNews Analysis
A new housing crisis for Massachusetts?
FACED WITH COMPOUNDING economic challenges, many renters in Massachusetts are struggling to keep up with monthly rent payments, raising the specter of a spike in evictions when the moratorium expires in August. Between April and June, 29 percent of those surveyed in a recent poll were unable to pay at least part of their rent […]
Posted inEconomy
Psychological, economic toll piling up
A PERFECT STORM of economic, social, and political crises brought on by coronavirus are battering Massachusetts residents. The economic devastation is spreading, with 20 percent reporting losing a job since the crisis began, and a third of those still employed losing a portion of their paycheck. The worst of the damage is among those with the […]