Assessment of people’s views with an emphasis on sociological aspects is mainly associated with the tradition of the European public opinion research. American authors introduced empirical and socio-psychological approaches to this eld of study. Hadley Cantril was one of those who pioneered “scienti c” public opinion research inspired by George Gallup. This paper reviews Cantril’s work, recalling some of his most important theoretical and methodological ndings and empirical projects, to conclude that his studies remain a rich source of knowledge for all present-day and future public opinion researchers, Ján Mišovič., and Obsahuje seznam literatury