Surveys
This page contains selected results of polls and surveys
related to opinions of various ethnic and national samples.
Distribution of answers (in percentages)
to various opinion polls according to the respondents'
ethnic/racial affiliation.
Source: Shiraev/Sobel. 2002 |
| |
Overall |
White |
Black |
Hispanic |
Asian |
| Very interested in politics
(Princeton/CRP/Pew, April 1997, telephone 1,404) |
29 |
29 |
28 |
20 |
6 |
| Freedom of speech should not extend to
groups like the Communist Party or the Ku Klux Klan
(Pew, November, 1997, telephone, 1,165) |
38 |
26 |
49 |
40 |
44 |
| There should be a law barring illegal
immigrants from public schools, public hospitals and
other state-run social services (ABC/WP, August
1996, telephone, 1,514) |
49 |
53 |
28 |
23 |
n/a |
| Nude magazines and X-rated movies
provide harmless entertainment for those who enjoy
it (Pew, November 1997, telephone 1,165) |
41 |
39 |
57 |
39 |
31 |
| Profanities in movies are not
offensive to me (Gallup/CNN/USA Today, July 1999,
telephone 1,031) |
24 |
24 |
18 |
28 |
n/a |
| Federal spending on foreign aid should
be decreased (NY Times, April 1998, telephone 1,395) |
49 |
52 |
35 |
39 |
40 |
| Sexual materials lead people to commit
rape (GSS, February-April 1993, personal 1,606) |
57 |
57 |
58 |
n/a |
n/a |
| Everyone convicted of drunk driving
should have a special sign on their license plate so
that everyone would know (Princeton/Newsweek,
January 1995, telephone 753) |
51 |
50 |
61 |
n/a |
84 |
| The government should ban all
cigarette advertising (ABC, June 1997, telephone
1,001) |
53 |
53 |
54 |
49 |
n/a |
| The ground war in Iraq would be worth
the cost of several thousand American troops (CBS/NYT,
February 1998, telephone 1,153) |
30 |
30 |
28 |
35 |
42 |
| Oppose the legality of same sex
marriages (May 1993, U.S. News, registered voters
1,000) |
74 |
74 |
72 |
100 |
100 |
| Consider an extramarital affair always
harmful to a marriage (Newsweek, September 1996,
telephone 751) |
70 |
71 |
66 |
n/a |
66 |
| When a woman becomes pregnant through
rape, abortion should be legal in such a case (AP/ICR,
January 1998, telephone 1,012) |
74 |
74 |
73 |
72 |
n/a |
| The death penalty for someone
convicted of rape (Time/CNN/Yankelovich, June 1997,
telephone 1,024) |
47 |
46 |
50 |
59 |
25 |
| Paparazzi have gone beyond their
constitutional guarantees of free speech (LA Times,
September 1997, telephone 1,258) |
75 |
76 |
69 |
70 |
83 |
| No type or level of illegal drug use
should be tolerated in the United States
(NBC/WSJ/Hart, March 1998, telephone 2,004) |
70 |
67 |
82 |
79 |
60 |
| Favor the Supreme court ruling that
women have the right to have an abortion during the
first three months of their pregnancy. (YANKELOVICH/
Time/CNN, May 1998, telephone 1,234) |
55 |
55 |
62 |
50 |
60 |
|
Distribution of answers (in percentages) to various
opinion polls according to the respondents' religious
affiliation.
Source: Shiraev/Sobel. 2002
|
| |
Protestant |
Catholic |
Jewish |
None |
| The ground war in Iraq would be
worth the cost of several thousand American troops
(CBS/NYT, February 1998, telephone 1,153) |
30 |
29 |
14 |
42 |
| Federal spending on foreign aid
should be decreased (NY Times, April 1998,
telephone 1,395) |
50 |
47 |
24 |
49 |
| Sexual materials lead people to
commit rape (GSS, February-April 1993, personal
1,606) |
62 |
56 |
40 |
36 |
| Nude magazines and X-rated movies
provide harmless entertainment for those who enjoy
it (Pew, November 1997, telephone 1,165) |
38 |
41 |
62 |
56 |
| Freedom of speech should not extend
to groups like the Communist Party or the Ku Klux
Klan (Pew, November, 1997, telephone, 1,165) |
40 |
40 |
24 |
22 |
| Abortion should be illegal in all
circumstances (Gallup/CNN/USA Today, January 1998,
telephone 1, 004) |
17 |
19 |
0 |
7 |
| The death penalty should be the
penalty for murder (CBS, February 1998, telephone
620) |
45 |
44 |
15 |
41 |
|
Americans speaking another language
Do you personally speak a language other than English well
enough to hold a conversation?
Yes 26 % No 74 %
Which foreign language do you speak?
| Spanish |
55 |
| French |
17 |
| German |
10 |
| Italian |
3 |
| Chinese |
2 |
| Other |
15 |
|
Source: Gallup Poll News Service. 2001
Attitudes toward homosexuality: US groups.
Do you feel that homosexuality should be considered an
acceptable alternative lifestyle or not?
| Categories |
Accept |
Do not accept |
No opinion |
| Male |
44 |
51 |
5 |
| Female |
55 |
41 |
4 |
| White |
51 |
45 |
4 |
| Black |
35 |
59 |
6 |
| Hispanic |
81 |
19 |
0 |
Source: Gallup Polls, 1999.
American's perceptions of fair treatment, special
advantages, and discrimination against selected groups.
(NBC/WSJ/Hart, March 2000, telephone 1,213; in
percent.)
Source: Shiraev/Sobel. 2002
|
| |
Asian Americans |
Evangelical Christians |
Catholics |
Hispanics |
Blacks |
| Too many special advantages |
11 |
14 |
9 |
15 |
19 |
| Fair treatment |
60 |
52 |
75 |
46 |
42 |
| Discriminated against |
18 |
12 |
9 |
30 |
34 |
| Not sure |
11 |
22 |
10 |
9 |
5 |
|
National stereotypes: People evaluating Canadians.
The Angus Reid Group survey of 5,700 adults in 20
countries, including Canada yielded the following
results. The survey found that Canadians are universally
recognized as friendly, polite and well-educated. The
country is widely admired for having a legal system that
is free of corruption and protective of human rights, a
strong set of social values and a sense of
responsibility toward the less fortunate of the world.
Canadians, meanwhile, tend to be happy campers,
according to the survey. With the exception of
Australians, Canadians expressed more overall happiness
and satisfaction with their lives than citizens of any
of the other countries. In fact, 87 per cent of
Canadians said they were ''very happy with my life as it
is right now.'' Three-quarters of the foreigners in the
survey ranked Canada among the top 10 countries that
they admire.
Source: Canadian Press Newswire, 1997, April 7.
|
Latinos perceive discrimination
A national poll by The Washington Post, the Henry J.
Kaiser Family Foundation and Harvard University found
that racial groups differ sharply over the amount of
discrimination they believe is faced by Latinos. More
than half of the nation's Latinos--55 percent--say that
discrimination against Latinos is a big problem. By
contrast, only 27 percent of non-Latino whites and 44
percent of blacks view discrimination against Latinos as
a major concern. The poll was based in part on a random
telephone survey of 2,417 self-identified Latinos in
1999.
Source: M. Fletcher. The Washington Post, May 29,
2000 ; A01
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