| Sumario: | The purpose of this article is to summarize the current state of French public opinion research so as to highlight its development, types of research being conducted and some of the problems that have been and are being encountered. Public opinion research and surveys based on probability sampling were introduced in France as early as 1938. Then the war, followed by the German invasion, stifled the development of personnel, facilities and opportunities for the use of the technique for four years. Thus public opinion research in France in 1945, after a period which had been particularly fruitful in the United States, was in much the same condition it had been in on the eve of the invasion. War-time and post-war planning stimulated research based on probability sampling and in 1951 there were six separate organizations using the technique. Thus, public opinion research in France, its development arrested by the war and the German invasion, has made significant forward strides since 1945. The author describes the present organization and focus of this research and discusses the problems, special and generic, which limit its further evolution. Principal among these are chronic shortages of funds, personnel and facilities for academic training. In spite of these difficulties, the author finds that French research methods demonstrate considerable ingenuity and technical sophistication.
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