Lloyd A. Free

Lloyd A. Free (29 September 1908 — 11 November 1996) was a pollster who worked with Hadley Cantril and the Institute for International Social Research (IISR).

Lloyd was born in San Jose, California, son of Arthur M. Free, a six-term Congressman. He was a campaign manager for his father, and studied at Princeton University, graduating as valedictorian of the Class of 1930. He went to George Washington University to study law, then transferred to Stanford University where in 1934 he obtained the Bachelor of Law.

Most of Free’s career looked beyond his native land: In 1931 he taught political science at Yenching University. Then he served as commentator in the London, England radio studios of BBC and CBS. Returning to Princeton, for two years he taught in the School of Public and International Affairs. He became an editor of Public Opinion Quarterly and conducted opinion polls in Brazil.

In the war against Hitler, Free joined the Foreign Broadcast Monitoring Service. He counted references to specific military units mentioned in propaganda broadcasts and made accurate inferences about enemy offensive movements.

After the war he assisted UNESCO in their communication operations before continuing similarly with the State Department. On February 11, 1946, he married Elsbeth Studer.

Free was a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and of the World Association for Public Opinion Research. 1969: International Attitudes in Four Asian Democracies; a study of parliamentary opinion in Japan, India, Malaysia and the Philippines, and public opinion in Japan in spring 1968, IISR 1973: (edited with William Watts) State of the Nation, Universe Books, NY 1976: How Others See Us, Lexington Books.