iMediaEthics Poll on Gun Control: Methodology Statement & Topline

by David W. Moore September 10, 2012 04:45 AM EST

Tags: Gun Control, Guns, Media Polls, U.S.

(Credit: Survey USA, screenshot)

840 adults nationwide were interviewed by SurveyUSA Friday 08/10/12 through Monday 08/13/12. Research, conceptualized and commissioned by iMediaEthics.org, was conducted 100% by telephone, as follows: Adults reachable on a home telephone (69% of respondents) were interviewed on their home telephone in the recorded voice of a professional announcer. The youngest-male method of respondent selection was used on these landline calls. Respondents unreachable on a home telephone (aka: “cell phone respondents”)(31% of respondents), were contacted on their cell phone by live operators, who hand-dialed the telephone, remained on the line throughout the duration of the call, read the questions to respondents, and recorded the answers. Blended sample for both landlines and cell phones provided by SSI of Fairfield CT. Responses were minimally weighted to U.S. Census targets for gender, age, race and region. Each respondent was randomly assigned at the time of the interview to one of two different paths through the survey; depending on the path, respondents heard slightly different question wording. Where further necessary, questions and answer choices were rotated to prevent order bias, recency and latency effects. SurveyUSA assigns to each question within the instrument a theoretical margin of sampling error, but such error is useful only in theory, and though commonly cited in the presentation of research results, sampling error is only one of many types of error that may influence the outcome of an opinion research study. More practical concerns include the inability to contact some, the refusal of others to be interviewed and the inability of still others to speak the language. It is difficult to quantify non-sampling errors.

Find news report, “iMediaEthics PollCheck Highlights Problem with General Questions in Gun Control Polls” here.

FORM A: ASKED OF HALF SAMPLE [N=439]

Q1A. In general, do you feel that the laws covering the sale of firearms should be made more strict, less strict, or kept as they are now?

44% More Strict
13% Less Strict
39% Kept As They Are
3% No Opinion

Q2A. [If more strict][N=139]:
How upset are you that the laws are NOT more strict right now:

53%   Very Upset
32%   Somewhat Upset
10%   Not Too Upset
4%     Not Upset At All
0%     No Opinion

[ALL IN Q2A, GO TO INTRODUCTION TO Q4A-Q7A]

Q3A. [If less strict][N=58]:
How upset are you that the laws are NOT less strict right now:

24%   Very Upset
40%   Somewhat Upset
22%   Not Too Upset
14%   Not Upset At All
0%     No Opinion

FORM B: ASKED OF HALF SAMPLE [N=401]

Q1B. In general, do you feel that more laws are needed to deal with the sale of firearms, fewer laws are needed, or is there the right number of laws now – or don’t you have an opinion one way or the other?
42%   More Laws Are Needed
14%   Fewer Laws Are Needed
29%   Right Number Of Laws
15%   No Opinion

Q1B1. [If no opinion][N=60]
Just your best guess – do you think more laws are needed, fewer laws, or is the there right number of laws now?

33% More Laws Are Needed
8%     Fewer Laws Are Needed
39%   Right Number Of Laws
20%   No Opinion

Q2B. [If more laws are needed][N=168]:
How upset are you that there are NOT more laws to deal with the sale of firearms:

53%   Very Upset
25%   Somewhat Upset
14%   Not Too Upset
4%     Not Upset At All
5%     No Opinion

Q3B. [If fewer laws are needed][N=55]:
How upset are you that there are NOT fewer laws to deal with the sale of firearms:

15%   Very Upset
26%   Somewhat Upset
26%   Not Too Upset
33%   Not Upset At All
0%     No Opinion

INTRODUCTION TO Q4 – Q7

Now we’d like to ask you your opinion of four measures that have been proposed to cover the sale of firearms. For each one, please tell me if you support it strongly, you support it but not strongly, you don’t have an opinion either way, you oppose it but not strongly, or you oppose it strongly.