(Credit: Survey USA, screenshot)

SurveyUSA interviewed 893 adults nationwide, Monday 06/04/12 through Wednesday 06/06/12. Research conceptualized and commissioned by iMediaEthics.org. 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 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 cellphones were 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.

ASK ALL

Q1. How closely have you been following the issue of same-sex marriage:
%
29  Very closely
34  Somewhat closely
17  Not too closely
18  Not at all closely
1  No opinion

All in Form A [N=470]

Q1A.  Based on what you’ve read or heard, do you think marriages between couples of the same sex should or should not be recognized by the law as valid, with the same rights as traditional marriages?
%
53  Should
41  Should not
6  No opinion

If “should”, ask Q2A and Q3A:[N=248]

Q2A. How upset are you that today, marriages between couple of the same sex are NOT recognized by the law as valid in most states? Are you:
%
30  Very upset
29  Somewhat upset
22  Not too upset
19  Not upset at all
1  No opinion

Q3A. Overall, would you say you feel strongly or not strongly about making same-sex marriage legal?
%
73  Strongly
26  Not strongly
1  No opinion

If  “should not”, ask Q4A and Q5A [N=194]

Q4A. If marriages between couples of the same sex DO become recognized by the law as valid in most or all states, how upset would you be:
%
61  Very upset
19  Somewhat upset
12  Not too upset
7  Not upset at all
1  No opinion

Q5A. Overall, would you say you feel strongly or not strongly about making same-sex marriage legal?
%
36  Strongly
61  Not strongly
3  No opinion

All in Form A [N=470]

Q6A. In your view, is being gay or lesbian:
%
48  due to factors beyond a person’s control, or
42  is it something a person chooses?
10  No opinion – volunteered) [GO TO Q8]

IF GIVE AN OPINION, ASK: [N=424]

Q7A. Do you feel very sure about that, or just somewhat sure?
%
73  Very sure
26  Somewhat sure
1  No opinion

FORM B [ASK OTHER HALF SAMPLE; N=423]]

Q1B.  Based on what you’ve read or heard, do you think marriages between couples of the same sex should or should not be recognized by the law as valid, with the same rights as traditional marriages – or doesn’t it matter to you one way or the other?
%
38  Should
35  Should not
23  Doesn’t matter to you
3  No opinion

If  “should”, ask Q2B and Q3B:[N=162]

Q2B. How upset are you that today, marriages between couple of the same sex are NOT recognized by the law as valid in most states? Are you:
%
32  Very upset
33  Somewhat upset
13  Not too upset
18  Not upset at all
3  No opinion

Q3B. Overall, would you say you feel strongly or not strongly about making same-sex marriage legal?
%
68  Strongly
28  Not strongly
4  No opinion

If “should not”, ask Q4B and Q5B: [N=150]

Q4B. If marriages between couples of the same sex DO become recognized by the law as valid in most or all states, how upset would you be:
%
59  Very upset
20  Somewhat upset
11  Not too upset
8  Not upset at all
2  No opinion

Q5B. Overall, would you say you feel strongly or not strongly about making same-sex marriage legal?
%
49  Strongly
45  Not strongly
6  No opinion

ASK ALL IN FORM B [N=423]

Q6B. In your view, is being gay or lesbian
%
41  Something a person chooses, or
47  Is it due to factors beyond a person’s control?
11  No opinion

IF GIVE AN OPINION, ASK: [N=375]

Q7B. Do you feel very sure about that, or just somewhat sure?
%
71  Very sure
28  Somewhat sure
1  No opinion

ASK ALL [N=893]

Q8. Do you personally know anyone who is gay or lesbian?
%
85  Yes
14  No
1  No opinion

IF YES IN Q8, ASK: [N=759]

Q9. Is any gay or lesbian person you know either a close family member or a close friend?
%
20  Close family member
33  Close friend
16  Both
31  Neither

Go to Gay Marriage Polling Report here.

This poll is part of iMediaEthics’ PollCheck project to fact check media polls.

Other iMediaEthics polls found here