Mohamed Hassan-El Serafi January 29, 2023
The Coronavirus pandemic has upended the way of life for billions of people around the world. This dataset explores the views of Americans towards the response to COVID-19 from President Biden and President Trump.
library(tidyverse)## ── Attaching packages ─────────────────────────────────────── tidyverse 1.3.2 ──
## ✔ ggplot2 3.4.0 ✔ purrr 1.0.1
## ✔ tibble 3.1.8 ✔ dplyr 1.0.10
## ✔ tidyr 1.2.1 ✔ stringr 1.5.0
## ✔ readr 2.1.3 ✔ forcats 0.5.2
## ── Conflicts ────────────────────────────────────────── tidyverse_conflicts() ──
## ✖ dplyr::filter() masks stats::filter()
## ✖ dplyr::lag() masks stats::lag()library(devtools)## Loading required package: usethislibrary(RCurl)##
## Attaching package: 'RCurl'
##
## The following object is masked from 'package:tidyr':
##
## completedf <- read_csv("https://raw.githubusercontent.com/fivethirtyeight/covid-19-polls/master/covid_approval_toplines.csv")## Rows: 5641 Columns: 6
## ── Column specification ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
## Delimiter: ","
## chr (4): subject, modeldate, party, timestamp
## dbl (2): approve_estimate, disapprove_estimate
##
## ℹ Use `spec()` to retrieve the full column specification for this data.
## ℹ Specify the column types or set `show_col_types = FALSE` to quiet this message.head(df)## # A tibble: 6 × 6
## subject modeldate party approve_estimate disapprove_estimate timestamp
## <chr> <chr> <chr> <dbl> <dbl> <chr>
## 1 Biden 11/27/2022 R 18.6 74.3 02:31:21 27 Nov…
## 2 Biden 11/27/2022 D 80.9 12.8 02:31:11 27 Nov…
## 3 Biden 11/27/2022 I 37.5 43.8 02:31:16 27 Nov…
## 4 Biden 11/27/2022 all 47.8 41.8 02:31:28 27 Nov…
## 5 Biden 11/26/2022 D 80.9 12.8 02:31:13 27 Nov…
## 6 Biden 11/26/2022 I 37.5 43.8 02:31:18 27 Nov…glimpse(df)## Rows: 5,641
## Columns: 6
## $ subject <chr> "Biden", "Biden", "Biden", "Biden", "Biden", "Bide…
## $ modeldate <chr> "11/27/2022", "11/27/2022", "11/27/2022", "11/27/2…
## $ party <chr> "R", "D", "I", "all", "D", "I", "R", "all", "I", "…
## $ approve_estimate <dbl> 18.60035, 80.87721, 37.50505, 47.82518, 80.87721, …
## $ disapprove_estimate <dbl> 74.28683, 12.76845, 43.82998, 41.82306, 12.76845, …
## $ timestamp <chr> "02:31:21 27 Nov 2022", "02:31:11 27 Nov 2022", "0…sum(is.na(df))## [1] 0Renaming Columns
df <- as_tibble(df)
new_df <- rename(df, President = subject, Date = modeldate, Party = party, Approve = approve_estimate, Disapprove = disapprove_estimate, Timestamp = timestamp)Replacing Text Values in Party Column
new_df <- new_df %>%
mutate(Party = str_replace(Party, "R", "Republican"))
new_df## # A tibble: 5,641 × 6
## President Date Party Approve Disapprove Timestamp
## <chr> <chr> <chr> <dbl> <dbl> <chr>
## 1 Biden 11/27/2022 Republican 18.6 74.3 02:31:21 27 Nov 2022
## 2 Biden 11/27/2022 D 80.9 12.8 02:31:11 27 Nov 2022
## 3 Biden 11/27/2022 I 37.5 43.8 02:31:16 27 Nov 2022
## 4 Biden 11/27/2022 all 47.8 41.8 02:31:28 27 Nov 2022
## 5 Biden 11/26/2022 D 80.9 12.8 02:31:13 27 Nov 2022
## 6 Biden 11/26/2022 I 37.5 43.8 02:31:18 27 Nov 2022
## 7 Biden 11/26/2022 Republican 18.6 74.3 02:31:23 27 Nov 2022
## 8 Biden 11/26/2022 all 47.8 41.8 02:31:30 27 Nov 2022
## 9 Biden 11/25/2022 I 37.5 43.8 02:31:20 27 Nov 2022
## 10 Biden 11/25/2022 Republican 18.6 74.3 02:31:25 27 Nov 2022
## # … with 5,631 more rowsnew_df <- new_df %>%
mutate(Party = str_replace(Party, "D", "Democrat"))
new_df## # A tibble: 5,641 × 6
## President Date Party Approve Disapprove Timestamp
## <chr> <chr> <chr> <dbl> <dbl> <chr>
## 1 Biden 11/27/2022 Republican 18.6 74.3 02:31:21 27 Nov 2022
## 2 Biden 11/27/2022 Democrat 80.9 12.8 02:31:11 27 Nov 2022
## 3 Biden 11/27/2022 I 37.5 43.8 02:31:16 27 Nov 2022
## 4 Biden 11/27/2022 all 47.8 41.8 02:31:28 27 Nov 2022
## 5 Biden 11/26/2022 Democrat 80.9 12.8 02:31:13 27 Nov 2022
## 6 Biden 11/26/2022 I 37.5 43.8 02:31:18 27 Nov 2022
## 7 Biden 11/26/2022 Republican 18.6 74.3 02:31:23 27 Nov 2022
## 8 Biden 11/26/2022 all 47.8 41.8 02:31:30 27 Nov 2022
## 9 Biden 11/25/2022 I 37.5 43.8 02:31:20 27 Nov 2022
## 10 Biden 11/25/2022 Republican 18.6 74.3 02:31:25 27 Nov 2022
## # … with 5,631 more rowsnew_df <- new_df %>%
mutate(Party = str_replace(Party, "I", "Independent"))
new_df## # A tibble: 5,641 × 6
## President Date Party Approve Disapprove Timestamp
## <chr> <chr> <chr> <dbl> <dbl> <chr>
## 1 Biden 11/27/2022 Republican 18.6 74.3 02:31:21 27 Nov 2022
## 2 Biden 11/27/2022 Democrat 80.9 12.8 02:31:11 27 Nov 2022
## 3 Biden 11/27/2022 Independent 37.5 43.8 02:31:16 27 Nov 2022
## 4 Biden 11/27/2022 all 47.8 41.8 02:31:28 27 Nov 2022
## 5 Biden 11/26/2022 Democrat 80.9 12.8 02:31:13 27 Nov 2022
## 6 Biden 11/26/2022 Independent 37.5 43.8 02:31:18 27 Nov 2022
## 7 Biden 11/26/2022 Republican 18.6 74.3 02:31:23 27 Nov 2022
## 8 Biden 11/26/2022 all 47.8 41.8 02:31:30 27 Nov 2022
## 9 Biden 11/25/2022 Independent 37.5 43.8 02:31:20 27 Nov 2022
## 10 Biden 11/25/2022 Republican 18.6 74.3 02:31:25 27 Nov 2022
## # … with 5,631 more rowsnew_df <- new_df %>%
mutate(Party = str_replace(Party, "all", "Overall"))
new_df## # A tibble: 5,641 × 6
## President Date Party Approve Disapprove Timestamp
## <chr> <chr> <chr> <dbl> <dbl> <chr>
## 1 Biden 11/27/2022 Republican 18.6 74.3 02:31:21 27 Nov 2022
## 2 Biden 11/27/2022 Democrat 80.9 12.8 02:31:11 27 Nov 2022
## 3 Biden 11/27/2022 Independent 37.5 43.8 02:31:16 27 Nov 2022
## 4 Biden 11/27/2022 Overall 47.8 41.8 02:31:28 27 Nov 2022
## 5 Biden 11/26/2022 Democrat 80.9 12.8 02:31:13 27 Nov 2022
## 6 Biden 11/26/2022 Independent 37.5 43.8 02:31:18 27 Nov 2022
## 7 Biden 11/26/2022 Republican 18.6 74.3 02:31:23 27 Nov 2022
## 8 Biden 11/26/2022 Overall 47.8 41.8 02:31:30 27 Nov 2022
## 9 Biden 11/25/2022 Independent 37.5 43.8 02:31:20 27 Nov 2022
## 10 Biden 11/25/2022 Republican 18.6 74.3 02:31:25 27 Nov 2022
## # … with 5,631 more rowsThe following subsets of data focuses on American views of President Biden’s response to COVID-19, parsed down by political party affiliation and sorted in descending order by highest job approval rating:
filter(new_df, President == 'Biden' & Party == 'Republican') %>%
arrange(desc(Approve))## # A tibble: 667 × 6
## President Date Party Approve Disapprove Timestamp
## <chr> <chr> <chr> <dbl> <dbl> <chr>
## 1 Biden 5/11/2021 Republican 34.0 61.5 08:40:22 12 May 2021
## 2 Biden 5/10/2021 Republican 34.0 61.5 09:10:29 10 May 2021
## 3 Biden 5/9/2021 Republican 34.0 61.5 09:10:30 10 May 2021
## 4 Biden 5/8/2021 Republican 34.0 61.5 09:10:30 10 May 2021
## 5 Biden 5/12/2021 Republican 33.8 61.5 09:05:15 12 May 2021
## 6 Biden 5/13/2021 Republican 33.6 61.5 09:00:16 13 May 2021
## 7 Biden 5/16/2021 Republican 33.5 61.7 08:55:37 17 May 2021
## 8 Biden 5/15/2021 Republican 33.5 61.7 08:55:37 17 May 2021
## 9 Biden 5/14/2021 Republican 33.5 61.7 08:55:38 17 May 2021
## 10 Biden 6/19/2021 Republican 33.1 62.4 09:25:41 21 Jun 2021
## # … with 657 more rowsfilter(new_df, President == 'Biden' & Party == 'Democrat') %>%
arrange(desc(Approve))## # A tibble: 662 × 6
## President Date Party Approve Disapprove Timestamp
## <chr> <chr> <chr> <dbl> <dbl> <chr>
## 1 Biden 3/22/2021 Democrat 92.7 5.00 09:45:07 22 Mar 2021
## 2 Biden 3/21/2021 Democrat 92.7 5.00 09:45:08 22 Mar 2021
## 3 Biden 3/20/2021 Democrat 92.7 5.00 09:45:08 22 Mar 2021
## 4 Biden 3/24/2021 Democrat 92.6 4.75 13:20:06 24 Mar 2021
## 5 Biden 3/23/2021 Democrat 92.6 4.75 10:45:07 24 Mar 2021
## 6 Biden 6/29/2021 Democrat 92.5 5.69 21:05:07 29 Jun 2021
## 7 Biden 6/28/2021 Democrat 92.5 5.69 21:05:08 29 Jun 2021
## 8 Biden 6/27/2021 Democrat 92.5 5.69 21:05:08 29 Jun 2021
## 9 Biden 6/26/2021 Democrat 92.5 5.69 21:05:08 29 Jun 2021
## 10 Biden 6/25/2021 Democrat 92.5 5.69 21:05:09 29 Jun 2021
## # … with 652 more rowsfilter(new_df, President == 'Biden' & Party == 'Independent') %>%
arrange(desc(Approve))## # A tibble: 665 × 6
## President Date Party Approve Disapprove Timestamp
## <chr> <chr> <chr> <dbl> <dbl> <chr>
## 1 Biden 3/31/2021 Independent 60.9 32.0 19:35:12 31 Mar 2021
## 2 Biden 5/27/2021 Independent 60.8 32.7 07:40:17 28 May 2021
## 3 Biden 5/26/2021 Independent 60.8 32.7 21:20:12 26 May 2021
## 4 Biden 4/13/2021 Independent 60.7 31.6 09:10:11 13 Apr 2021
## 5 Biden 4/12/2021 Independent 60.7 31.6 10:15:13 12 Apr 2021
## 6 Biden 5/3/2021 Independent 60.6 32.6 10:15:24 5 May 2021
## 7 Biden 5/2/2021 Independent 60.6 32.6 10:15:25 5 May 2021
## 8 Biden 5/1/2021 Independent 60.6 32.6 20:20:10 1 May 2021
## 9 Biden 4/30/2021 Independent 60.6 32.6 16:55:14 30 Apr 2021
## 10 Biden 4/11/2021 Independent 60.5 31.7 16:35:26 11 Apr 2021
## # … with 655 more rowsfilter(new_df, President == 'Biden' & Party == 'Overall') %>%
arrange(desc(Approve))## # A tibble: 671 × 6
## President Date Party Approve Disapprove Timestamp
## <chr> <chr> <chr> <dbl> <dbl> <chr>
## 1 Biden 1/25/2021 Overall 69 30.1 11:11:16 8 Feb 2021
## 2 Biden 1/24/2021 Overall 69 30.1 11:11:17 8 Feb 2021
## 3 Biden 1/23/2021 Overall 69 30.1 11:11:17 8 Feb 2021
## 4 Biden 1/22/2021 Overall 69 31 11:11:18 8 Feb 2021
## 5 Biden 5/27/2021 Overall 63.4 32.1 07:40:33 28 May 2021
## 6 Biden 5/26/2021 Overall 63.4 32.1 21:20:20 26 May 2021
## 7 Biden 5/11/2021 Overall 63.3 31.1 08:40:30 12 May 2021
## 8 Biden 5/16/2021 Overall 63.3 31.3 08:55:52 17 May 2021
## 9 Biden 5/15/2021 Overall 63.3 31.3 08:55:53 17 May 2021
## 10 Biden 5/14/2021 Overall 63.3 31.3 08:55:53 17 May 2021
## # … with 661 more rowsThe favorable ratings of President Biden varied based on political party affiliation. The highest approval ratings the President received from Democrats was under 93%, and 34% from people who identified as Republicans. Among Americans who identified as Independents, the highest approval rating was just under 61%, and overall Americans gave a high of 69% approval rating. All of the highest approval ratings occurred in 2021, which may indicate that President Biden’s lowest approval ratings occurred in 2022.
How does President Biden and President Trump’s approval ratings of responding to the Coronavirus compare with each other?
As the boxplot shows, President Biden’s median approval ratings are
almost 10 percentage points better than President Trump. Trump’s lowest
approval ratings are lower than Biden’s lowest approval ratings, and
Biden’s highest approval ratings are higher than Trump’s highest
approval ratings. While Biden’s approval ratings are higher than Trump,
how does each President’s disapproval ratings compare with each
other?
ggplot(new_df, aes(x = President, y=Disapprove,color=President)) +
geom_boxplot() +
labs(x='President', y='Disapproval Rating', title='COVID-19 Response Job Disapproval Ratings')
When comparing each President’s disapproval ratings, the median
disapproval rating of Trump is about 10 percentage points higher than
Biden. The highest and lowest disapproval rating of Trump is higher than
that of Biden, respectively.
The initial response by President Biden to the Coronavirus pandemic was positive. He received his highest approval ratings in his first year as President. By comparison, while President Trump did receive high approval ratings for handling the COVID-19 response, they were not as high as President Biden. The high favorable ratings President Biden received broke along party lines, with the President receiving a high of almost 93% approval from Democrats and only a high of 34% from Republicans. However, Independents, who do not have a party affiliation, had a high of 60% approval of President Biden’s response. This indicates that while there is certain polarization when examining the how respondents approved/disapproved of President Biden, those who identified as Independents may not hold the same inclinations of bias. Further exploration can be done comparing the approval and disapproval ratings of each President, analyzing how party affiliation dictated whether respondents were more likely to approve or disapprove each President’s handling of the pandemic.