OCTOBER 9, 2014 – Fifty-eight percent of Americans support banning all flights to the United States from countries experiencing an Ebola outbreak, according to an exclusive new NBC News scientific survey conducted online by SurveyMonkey.

This marks the first collaboration between NBC News and SurveyMonkey, the world’s leading online survey platform. The two companies today announced an innovative new partnership that will enable them to harness the best of the web’s wide reach and real-time reaction combined with scientific methodology and journalistic standards.

• Full analysis of the Ebola survey is online here: http://nbcnews.to/1yPuEA7 
• Video of the “TODAY” report is online here: http://on.today.com/1ne3ltW
• Survey results, including polling methods, are online here: http://on-msn.com/1EyibB4

NBC News and SurveyMonkey will work together to deliver in-depth assessments of public attitudes and explore new approaches to survey research.

This collaboration aims to improve the overall quality of online surveys through systematic exploratory research. The teams will work carefully to advance key learnings on how to deliver quality public opinion data that leverages decades of proven polling best practices and today’s technologies. Two veterans of academic and public opinion research, John Lapinski and Jon Cohen, are leading the team which will consist of leading social scientists and survey practitioners.

John Lapinski (PhD) heads the Elections Unit at NBC News and is an associate professor in the department of Political Science at the University of Pennsylvania. Prior to joining the faculty at Penn, he was an assistant professor in political science at Yale University. His research appeared in top academic journals and he has authored two books with Princeton University Press. In addition, he is the Director of the University of Pennsylvania’s Program on Opinion Research and Election Studies.

Jon Cohen is the Vice President of Survey Research at SurveyMonkey and was the former head of polling at The Washington Post and Vice President of Research at the nonpartisan think tank, Pew Research. As one of the country’s leading pollsters for over 10 years, Jon’s delivered a long series of high-impact, nonpartisan polls and he’s he is also a top expert in survey data management.

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About NBC News

NBC News is a global leader in news across all broadcast and digital platforms. Its leading and award-winning television news broadcasts include NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams, TODAY, Meet the Press and Dateline, as well as primetime specials and breaking news reports. The rapidly-growing NBC News Digital Group provides continuous content to consumers wherever they are, whenever they want it. NBC News also operates Peacock Productions, an award-winning in-house production company, and the NBC NewsChannel affiliate news service. NBC News is part of the NBCUniversal News Group, a division of NBCUniversal, which is owned by Comcast Corporation.

About SurveyMonkey

SurveyMonkey is the world’s leading online survey platform, with more than 2 million survey responses every day. SurveyMonkey has revolutionized the way people give and take feedback, making it accessible, easy and affordable for everyone. The company was founded in 1999 with a focus on helping people make better decisions, and has built technology based on over 10 years of experience in survey methodology and web development. Customers include 99% of the Fortune 500, academic institutions, organizations and neighborhood soccer leagues everywhere.

The company has over 450 employees globally, with headquarters in Palo Alto, CA. For more information, visit www.surveymonkey.com.

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Contact

Airfoil for SurveyMonkey:
Kali Fry
650-691-7312
surveymonkey@airfoilgroup.com

For SurveyMonkey:
Bennett Porter
bennett@surveymonkey.com

For NBC News:
Erika Masonhall
erika.masonhall@nbcuni.com