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2 total messages Started by aucwa Fri, 07 Apr 1995 00:00
politicalsurvey test
#4
Author: aucwa
Date: Fri, 07 Apr 1995 00:00
197 lines
7683 bytes


                                                Tony Weber
                                                Todd Atteberry
                                                University of     
                                                Alaska, Anchorage
                                                4/13/95

Good day.
     We are students at the University of Alaska, Anchorage.  We
are conducting a two-part experiment.  Your helpwould be
apprecieated.  The first part is a survey measuring the responses
to questions about the political activities of Congress when
posted to select Internet newsgroups.  The second part of the
experiment is the attempt at conducting a survey through the
medium of the Internet.
     We have attempted to post this survey in such a way that
uninterested parties will be able to ignore it.  For those who do
wish to respond, we will be streamlineing the process of
responding to the survey as much as possible.  If you have
suggestions on how to improve such attempts, please post them to
the E-mail address below, or add them to the end of the survey.
     The results of this survey will be written into a report for
our class in Social Science Research.  All names or E-mail
identification will be removed from the raw data.  If you have
further questions, please E-mail us, or our instructor, Professor
Nancy Andes, at AFNA@orion.alaska.edu
    The survey has been written in such a way as to reflect
disparate political viewpoints, as we have our own quite
differing viewpoints.  We are attempting to do the survey from an
academic, non-partisan point of view.  We are more interested in
the views of the members of the Internet community than in
pushing an agenda.  Again, please E-mail us if you have comments.
     To respond to the survey, you to E-mail a response;
downloading and return uploading is not necessary.  Using any
form of E-mail list the question number, followed by the letter
of the answer which most closely describes your feelings or ideas
on the subject.  Please use the answers as given, as there is no
way to enter other forms of answers into the data matrix.  The
exceptions are the questions on age, years of education and
number of children.   
     The survey will close on Friday, April 21, at 5:00 pm,
Alaska Standard time.  However, if you have comments on the
survey, or wish a copy of the report, our mailbox will remain
open.  The address is: AUCWA@orion.alaska.edu

                            Thank you for your help,

                            Todd Atteberry
                            Tony Weber




1)   Defense spending should be increased.
          A)Yes B)No

2)   Jury damages in liability cases are excessive.
          A)Yes B)No

3)   The President should have the line item veto.
          A)Yes B)No

4)   There should be a mandated Federal balanced budget.
          A)Yes B)No

5)   The Federal government should help fund higher education.
          A)Yes B)No

6)   The United States government should help people displaced by
     natural disasters. 
          A)Yes B)No

7)   The death penalty serves as a deterrent to crime.
          A)Yes B)No

8)   Do you support government spending for early education? 
          A)Yes B)No

9)   Do you support government aid for laid off workers?
          A)Yes B)No

10)  Do you favor a Presidential line item veto even though it
     would allow a president to cut programs of members of
     Congress  whom he disliked, regardless of need or usefulness of
     the  program?
         A)Yes B)No

11)  The United States military is currently capable of defending
     U.S. interests.
         A)Yes B)No

12)  Which of the following political parties or groups do you
     most identify with?
         A)Democratic B)Independent C)Republican D)Other

13)  There should be limits on your ability to file lawsuits when
     seeking reparations for injury.
         A)Yes B)No

14)  Violent crime has increased in the last 10 years.
         A)Yes B)No

15)  The government should run budget surpluses in good economic
     times to support deficit spending in downturns or
     emergencies. 
         A)Yes B)No

16)  Should financial institutions be held liable for investors
     losses if the institution is found to have been misleading
     or negligent in informing investors of risks?
         A)Yes B)No

17)  The United States government should financially help those
     people living below the poverty level?
         A)Yes B)No

18)  Do You favor the goals of the Contract With America?
         A)Yes B)No

19)  Do you support aid for the disabled? 
         A)Yes B)No

20)  Projections for the "Star Wars" anti-ballistic missile
     defense were for a system capable of destroying 35% of incoming
     warheads.  Should funding be re-authorized for SDI?
         A)Yes B)No

21)  Should there be a mandated Federal balanced budget even
     though a recession such as in 1991-93 might last longer due to
     restrictions such a law might place on spending?
         A)Yes B)No

22)  The United States government should help people who have
     fallen on hard times through no fault of their own.
         A)Yes B)No

23)  Criminal sentencing in America is arbitrary.
         A)Yes B)No

24)  The death penalty should be an option in capital crime cases.
         A)Yes B)No

25)  The United States should be able to unilaterally break        
     international treaties.
         A)Yes B)No

26)  Do you believe that a corporation should be financially       
     responsible if a product is found to be harmful or damaging   
     after it is marketed?
         A)Yes B)No

27)  Is it a good idea for the United States government to support 
     California wine producers by spending $18 Million to promote  
     California wines in foreign markets?
         A)Yes B)No

28)  Do you support government aid for the elderly?
         A)Yes B)No

29)  Current sentencing practices reflect the crime committed.
         A)Yes B)No

30)  Given that U.S. defense spending levels as a percentage of
     GDP are at the lowest levels since World War II, current defense
     spending levels are:
         A)Too low B)Too high C)Just about right

31)  Which following term most accurately describes your
      political beliefs?
         A)Very-Liberal B)Liberal C)Moderate D)Conservative
         E)Very-Conservative

32)  There is an overabundance of frivolous lawsuits in the
     United States.
         A)Yes B)No

33)  What is your age?

34)  What is your gender?
         A)Male B)Female

35)  If you have children, how many do you have?

36)  What is your ethnic background?
         A)American Indian B)African American C)Asian American
         D)Hispanic American E)Caucasian F)Other (specify) 

37)  How many years of education do you have?(include K-12)

38)  What kind of gateway do you use for Internet access?
         A)Educational facility B)Commercial service(America On
          Line,Prodigy, etc.)  C)At place of employment  

                           THANK YOU!

Re: politicalsurvey test
#5
Author: Al Sparks
Date: Sat, 08 Apr 1995 00:00
81 lines
4320 bytes
This was posted in ua.test and ak.test, and I've added a few groups

>>>>> "C" == aucwa  <aucwa@orion.alaska.edu> writes:

    C> The survey has been written in such a
    C> way as to reflect disparate political viewpoints, as we have
    C> our own quite differing viewpoints.  We are attempting to do
    C> the survey from an academic, non-partisan point of view.  We
    C> are more interested in the views of the members of the
    C> Internet community than in pushing an agenda.  Again, please
    C> E-mail us if you have comments. 

I take issue with your claim that you aren't pushing an agenda.
Specifically, I have some comments about the way you've phrased your
questions.  First, let's take a look at this question:

    5)   The Federal government should help fund higher education.
	      A)Yes B)No

and now this one:
    6)   The United States government should help people displaced by
	 natural disasters. 
	      A)Yes B)No

Most of the questions where you refer to the "United States
Government" are questions that are disputed because people feel that
the FEDERAL government should not have a role in those areas.  I think
you color the question somewhat, because some people reading it could
imply it to mean that a "no" answer meant that no government entity in
the United States should help people displaced by natural disasters.

So if there is a mud slide in a small town in California, and maybe
10-20 people are displaced, perhaps the State of California should
help with no federal aid.  That is, they can handle it all on their
own.

Technically, the federal government is referred to as the "United
States Government", but when discussing domestic issues, "federal
government" is more appropriate, especially in a poll where the former
phrase obscures the issue for many.

    14)  Violent crime has increased in the last 10 years.
	     A)Yes B)No

I like that one.  It's actually remained about the same per-capita
(small decrease?).


Now lets take a look at these two questions:

    21)  Should there be a mandated Federal balanced budget even
	 though a recession such as in 1991-93 might last longer due to
	 restrictions such a law might place on spending?
	     A)Yes B)No

    13)  There should be limits on your ability to file lawsuits when
	 seeking reparations for injury.
	     A)Yes B)No

The first one, you give some sort of explanation which I see as
slanted.  The second one you personalize ("....on YOUR ability..."),
so you don't need an explanation to slant the question.  Of course the
emphasis is mine.

One more and that's the Star Wars question (question 20), which I
won't quote.  This one might be defended, on the grounds that few
people know what the "Strategic Defense Initiative" is (you didn't
even spell it out in your question, btw but used SDI instead) but
everyone knows what "Star Wars" is.  The term, however, was coined by
people who oppose it.  I found it galling when so-called objective
journalists would continue to use it, yet claim they were doing an
objective piece on the subject.

On its technical merits, btw, SDI presently has little to offer.  But
the hope that one day you could bring the effectiveness of such a
shield close to, if not at, 100%, is worth considering.  Perhaps that
too should have been inserted into your question also.

There's more I could criticize about this, but I figure I've got the
more important points.
  === Al
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