The rules are simple. Each of these questions was asked to hundreds of American adults in a professional poll. Your task: to guess the most common answer. I've maintained the exact wordings as closely as possible. For each question, I'll write the answer below in white, so simply highlight the text to read it.* If you want more in-depth information on the results, each question has a link to the full results. Let's get started!
NOTE (added in post): To play this game as a Google Form, head to http://tinyurl.com/guesswhatamericansthink.
1. Generally speaking, are you feeling optimistic or pessimistic about your life in the latter half of 2020? (YouGov)
Very optimistic
Somewhat optimistic
Somewhat pessimistic
Very pessimistic
Answer: Somewhat optimistic (35%)
2. Is Yahtzee more of a game of luck or a game of skill? (YouGov)
Game of luck
Game of skill
Don't know
Not applicable - I am not familiar with this game
Answer: Game of luck (49%)
3. Do you currently use the social media platforms Facebook or Twitter, or not? If yes, which? (Monmouth University)
Yes, Facebook
Yes, Twitter
Yes, both
No, do not use either
Don't know
Answer: Yes, Facebook (43%)
4. Do you approve or disapprove of social media sites like Facebook and Twitter deleting user posts for possible false or misleading content? (Monmouth University)
Approve
Disapprove
Don't know
Answer: Approve (50%)
5. Do you think the way Twitter handles content involving President Trump is generally fair or unfair? If unfair, does Twitter tend to be too favorable or too unfavorable toward Trump? (Monmouth University)
Fair
Unfair, too favorable
Unfair, too unfavorable
Unfair, not sure
Don't know
Answer: Fair (46%)
6. How much are social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube responsible for the spread of fake news? (Monmouth University)
Mostly responsible
Partly responsible but other media sites are more responsible
Not at all responsible
Don't know
Answer: Partly responsible but other media sites are more responsible (61%)
7. For this question, pick the most common answer among Republicans, instead of all Americans. Which president do you believe has done more to help African Americans: Donald Trump or Abraham Lincoln? (YouGov)
Donald Trump
Abraham Lincoln
Both equally
Neither of them
Don't know
Answer: Abraham Lincoln (35%) with Trump trailing at just 34%. Among all Americans, Lincoln has 59% support.
8. Do you think human beings are or are not naturally monogamous (whereby an individual commits to one partner during their lifetime)? (YouGov)
They are
They are not
Don't know
Answer: They are not (37%)
9. The U.S. President nominates Supreme Court Justices. In your opinion, should presidential candidates release a list of Supreme Court Justices that they would choose from if elected, or should candidates not release such a list? (YouGov)
They should release this
They should not release this
Don't know
Answer: They should release this (43%)
10. Do you think Donald Trump or Joe Biden would be better at dealing with China, or do you think that both would be equally good or neither would be good? (NBC/Wall Street Journal)
Donald Trump
Joe Biden
Both would be equally good
Neither would be good
Not sure
Answer: Donald Trump (43%)
11. Do you think statues of Christopher Columbus should or should not be displayed in America? (YouGov)
They should be displayed
They should not be displayed
Don't know
N/A - I don't know who Christopher Columbus is
Answer: They should be displayed (43%)
12. This question was asked in September 2017. Is kneeling during the national anthem... (Morning Consult)
An acceptable form of protest
An unacceptable form of protest
Don't know/no opinion
Answer: An unacceptable form of protest (48%)
13. Same question, with the same answer choices, but conducted this month. Which answer do you think is most common today? (Morning Consult)
Answer: An unacceptable form of protest (now only 39%)
14. How proud, if at all, are you to be an American? (YouGov)
Very proud
Somewhat proud
Not very proud
Not at all proud
Don't know
N/A - I am not an American**
Answer: Very proud (48%)
15. How interested, if at all, are you in reading "Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man," a book written by President Donald Trump's niece and clinical psychologist, Mary Trump? (YouGov)
Very interested
Somewhat interested
Not very interested
Not at all interested
Don't know
Answer: Not at all interested (33%)
16. Which, if any, of the following services would you be interested in watching a new show on? Note that for this question, respondents could choose as many answers as they wanted. (YouGov)
Amazon Prime Video
Apple TV+
CBS All Access
Disney+
HBO Max
Hulu
Netflix
Peacock
Quibi
Other
None of these
Don't know
Answer: Netflix (58% of people)
17. Do you approve or disapprove of the way the police in the United States are doing their job? (Quinnipiac University)
Approve
Disapprove
Don't know
Answer: Approve (49%)
18. For this question, pick the most common answer among likely voters in Georgia. If the election for President were held today, who would you vote for? (FiveThirtyEight polling average)
Democrat Joe Biden
Republican Donald Trump
Not sure/someone else
Answer: Democrat Joe Biden (47%)
19. These final two questions will be a little different from the others. First of all, the survey is from 2010, so it might be a bit out of date. Second, it's a bit complicated. Respondents were asked which fillings they had eaten as part of a sandwich in the last two days. Which ended up being the most popular? (I've alphabetized the top ten fillings below, though there were many more than 10.) (CDC)
Chicken or turkey loaf (luncheon meat)
Lettuce
Mayonnaise
Mustard
Natural cheddar or American cheese
Peanut butter
Processed cheddar or American cheese
Sliced ham (luncheon meat)
Tomatoes
Tomato catsup
Answer: Lettuce (25% of people)
20. They were also asked what bread they used. Which bread was most popular? (CDC)
Hard white roll
Multigrain bread
Roll, hoagie, submarine
Rye bread
Soft white roll
Toasted white bread
Wheat flour tortilla
Wheat or cracked white bread
White bread
Whole wheat bread
Answer: Soft white roll (36% of people)
I hope you had fun! It was fun to compile the questions. Until next week!
–beautifulthorns
*This was adapted from a game sometimes played on the FiveThirtyEight Politics Podcast, also called Guess What Americans Think. (Here's an example.) In that game, you have to guess the percentage of people who selected a particular answer, but I wasn't sure if that would work in blog post format.
**If you look at the dictionary definition, everyone who answered this poll was, in fact, an American, at least if YouGov did their job right. But maybe some people don't feel like they're an American anyway.