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Social Policy



How Americans Feel-An Introduction to Survey Research

Almost all of us have responded to surveys of one kind or another. A survey is a study, generally in the form of an interview or questionnaire, which provides researchers with information concerning how people think and act. Among the United States' best-known surveys of opinion are the Gallup Poll and the Harris Poll.

For several of the chapters in this book, you will be examining the results of another public opinion poll-Public Agenda. Public Agenda is a public opinion research organization based in New York City. Its mission is to help leaders better understand the public's point of view on major policy issues, and to help citizens better understand critical policy issues. Public Agenda is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization. By examining the issues discussed on the Public Agenda Online web site, you will not only learn more about such issues as abortion, speaking English, capital punishment, and the environment, you will also learn how others feel about them.

For this exercise, however, you will be exploring the Public Agenda Online web site and familiarizing yourself with the topics covered, the kinds of survey questions asked, and the survey findings.

Go to the Public Agenda Online website at http://www.publicagenda.org. From the homepage, link to Issue Guides and select a topic of your choice; click on Framing the Debate; click on The Perspectives in Brief at the bottom of the page; and then answer the following questions:



1

What topic did you select?
2

Why did you select this topic?
3

Briefly summarize the three perspectives for the topic you selected.

From The Perspectives in Brief, click on your web browser's Back button and from the list on the left-hand side of the page click on Fact File. Select one of the facts and read the findings.



4

What did you learn?

From the fact page you selected, click on your Back button and on the left-hand side of the page click on Quick Takes. Click on one of the graphs on this page.



5

What survey questions were asked, and what did you learn?
6

Click on your Back button and then from the left-hand side of the page select one of the "Public Opinion" topics of your choice (such as People's Chief's Concerns). Summarize the findings.





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Schaefer, Sociology Brief, 6/eOnline Learning Center

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