Study Of Public Attitudes Research Articles

Giving Up on the Young

In this commentary we explore the psychology behind the punitive criminalisation of young offenders that appears to characterise so much criminal justice policy in recent years. We draw from the findings of a mixed-method study of public attitudes in the UK. We highlight two particularly striking findings that emerged in the quantitative aspect of this work, which we illustrate using quotes from the qualitative data collected. When considered together, these two findings may have implications for better understanding the punitive turn in youth justice policy.

When Effort is Threatening: The Influence of the Belief in a Just World on Americans' Attitudes Toward Antipoverty Policy

In the political context of the reauthorization of federal welfare reform legislation, a nationally representative sample of 1,570 adults in the United States completed a survey examining the factors that affect attitudes and policy preferences with regard to aid for low-income individuals and families in the United States. This study utilized an innovative survey technique, the factorial survey methodology (Rossi & Nock, 1982), which allows for the simultaneous experimental manipulation of a large number of factors through the use of a vignette. This research demonstrates how the portrayal of difficulties faced by people in need and the ways in which they attempt to overcome these difficulties affect support for policies designed to aid low-income individuals and families. In addition, this study of public attitudes considers the role that psychological orientations of the evaluators play in judgments of families in need. In this case, we examined how the evaluators' belief that the world is a just place influences their evaluations of deservingness. Consistent with our expectations, we found that the more efforts the vignette subject engaged in improving her situation, the less deserving of government benefits she was judged to be by respondents with a strong belief in a just world. The reverse was found among respondents with a weaker belief: more efforts were associated with greater judgments of deservingness.

When an Adoption Disrupts: A Study of Public Attitudes*

The disruption or dissolution of an adoption affects the child, family, and adoption worker. Families make this decision only after repeated efforts at saving the placement. However, a national telephone survey of 916 members of the general public in the U. S. revealed that only 23% believe parents should be permitted to return an adopted child when the child has severe behavior problems; 58% felt parents should be required to keep the child; 12% said “it depends;” and 7%“didn't know” or did not give an answer. Members of the public older than 29 years and with some college education were more likely to see disruption or dissolution as acceptable. The implications of these findings for adoption research, practice, and policy development are discussed.

Physician and family assisted suicide: results from a study of public attitudes in Britain

Legalisation of assisted suicide presents a dilemma for society. This arises because of a lack of consensus regarding the precedence to be accorded freedom of choice versus the inviolability of human life. Several factors including improvements in medical technology, population ageing and changing perceptions about quality of life serve to make a re-examination of attitudes to this issue appropriate at this time. Within this context, data from the 1983, 1984, 1989 and 1994 British Social Attitudes Surveys (BSAS) were examined. These demonstrate a slight increase in support for physician-assisted suicide (PAS) from around 75% to around 84% over the 11-year period in Britain. A much lower level of support (54%) was recorded in relation to family-assisted suicide (FAS). A logistic regression analysis of data from the 1994 survey was undertaken to establish the relationship between attitudes toward legalisation of PAS and FAS and the characteristics of the respondent. Strength of religious affiliation was found to be a significant determinant of opposition to legalisation of both. Religious denomination was found to be marginally significant in relation to PAS but not FAS. Members of the Church of England, non-Christian faiths and those of no faith were found to be marginally more likely to support legalisation of PAS, than Roman Catholics or those of other Christian faiths. Education, income, sex, marital status, long-standing illness and age were not found to be significant predictors of attitude. In relation to FAS age was also found to be significant predictor of opposition. Findings here suggest that if Britain continues to become a more secularised society, support for legalisation of PAS (and FAS) is likely to increase. As health care costs continue to grow and the ability to extend life (even where the quality of that life may be poor) increases, pressure for legalisation of PAS may increase.

The Functional Food Trend: What’s Next And What Americans Think About Eggs

Objective: The HealthFocus® National Study of Public Attitudes and Actions Toward Healthy Foods is conducted every two years to identify current issues in consumer health and nutrition behavior and attitudes, to assess the trends in consumer priorities and to develop an understanding of where consumers are headed in their behavior towards their health and diet. This paper focuses on consumer interests in functional nutrition for disease prevention and health enhancement. It examines the role consumers see for eggs in healthy diets.Methods: The data for this study were collected from written questionnaires completed by 2,074 qualified respondents in August, September and October of 1998. The research was conducted in two stages: 1. A telephone pre-recruit from a national probability sample of households qualified respondents as Primary Grocery Shoppers (those who make most of the food buying decisions for their household or who equally share that responsibility). 2. A 12-page, self-administered questionnaire was mailed to qualified respondents. Respondents to this survey represent shoppers in the U.S. in all respects except race. Women account for 81% of the survey respondents, since they do most of the household shopping.Results: Most shoppers believe foods can offer benefits that reach beyond basic nutrition to functional nutrition for disease prevention and health enhancement. As consumers better understand the functional benefits of eggs, from Prevention to Performance, Wellness, Nurturing and Cosmetics, eggs will continue to play an important role in healthy eating for many consumers.Conclusions: Eggs are considered a healthy food by most consumers as long as they are eaten in moderation. Increased egg consumption is being driven by consumer interest in health benefits that reach beyond dietary avoidance strategies to positive nutrition strategies. Today’s self-reliant approach to health creates significant opportunities for health and nutrition marketers to use knowledge-based marketing programs to shape present and future health decisions and product choices among shoppers.

精神遅滞児(者)に対する健常者の態度に関する多次元的研究 : 態度と接触経験、性、知識との関係

高校生から一般成人に至る469名を調査対象として、多次元的観点から精神遅滞児(者)に対する健常者の態度について検討した。その結果、概して、理念的観念的な次元に属する態度尺度得点は高く、現実的具体的な次元に属する態度尺度得点は低かった。接触経験に関しては、接触経験の有る人の方が無い人に比べて、精神遅滞児(者)と関わろうとする気持ちが強く、地域交流を推進しようという気持ちも強かった。性については、全態度尺度で、女性の方が男性よりも精神遅滞児(者)に対して好意的結果を示していた。知識については、精神遅滞の出現に関する知識の有る人の方が無い人よりも実践的な好意度が高く、統合教育に同意し、さらに、精神遅滞者との交流を推進する気持ちも強かった。以上より、接触経験、性、知識と関連づけながら、多次元的観点から、精神遅滞児(者)に対する態度を構成している次元ごとに分析していくことの有効性が明らかとなった。

Public Attitudes Toward Freedom of the Press

This article presents findings on a study of public attitudes toward the rights and responsibilities of the media. Public thinking about freedom of the press appears to be dominated by a principle of fairness. Specifically, people want and expect the communications media to provide equal coverage to opposing political candidates and to present both sides of controversial issues. Despite other studies showing a lack of political tolerance, the public is willing to permit considerable diversity in the points of view that are presented in the media. Although the public rejects many proposals for censorship laws, it does support fairness-enhancing laws. The authors hypothesize that the public's perspective on freedom of the press grows out of its role as listeners rather than as speakers. John Immerwahr is an Associate Professor of philosophy at Villanova University, and a research fellow of the Public Agenda foundation. John Doble is a Senior Research Associate at the Public Agenda Foundation. This article was adapted from The Speaker and the Listener: A Public Perspective on Freedom of Expression (New York: Public Agenda Foundation, 1980), by John Immerwahr, Jean Johnson, and John Doble, The research was supported by a grant from the John and Mary R. Markle Foundation. Daniel Yankelovich, President of the Public Agenda, supervised the original project, and the authors are indebted to him for his help and suggestions. Jean Johnson read and commented on earlier drafts of this article. For more detailed information about the findings, contact the Roper Data Center, Storrs, Connecticut 06268. Public Opinion Quarterly Vol. 46:177-194 ? 1982 by The Trustees of Columbia University Published by Elsevier Science Publishing Co., Inc. 0033-362X/82/0046-177/$2.50 This content downloaded from 207.46.13.100 on Thu, 02 Mar 2017 04:15:24 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 178 IMMERWAHR AND DOBLE

Elite Attitudes on Economic-Welfare & Social Issues

In quantity and diversity, the study of elite attitudes in the United States lags behind the study of public attitudes. For example, there have been several studies of constraint in public attitudes based on a variety of quite recent data or reevaluations of old data.1 Our knowledge of constraint in elite attitudes, on the other hand, rests on data nearly twenty years old, and little has been done to assess possible changes in attitudinal constraint since then.2 As another example, discussions of the various social, economic, and foreign-policy issue positions of the public have been voluminous.3 Similar analyses of American elite attitudes are few and far between, and, again, some of the best work comes from data and conditions of the 1950's.

Public Versus Statutory Choice of Heirs: A Study of Public Attitudes about Property Distribution at Death

Intestate succession statutes should reflect the distributive preferences of intestate decendents. This telephone survey of 750 persons living in Alabama, California, Massachusetts, Ohio, and Texas supplements prior will studies and provides new insights concerning public attitudes about property distribution at death. Two other important findings of this study suggest that a modern intestacy statute should provide that (1) the surviving spouse inherit the entire estate in preference to the decendent's issue or family of orientation and (2) issue who are in the same generation share equally in the estate. It is a principle of American law and a practice of American life that an individual has the right to select almost any person, or institution to inherit his or her property so long as that individual is believed to be of sane mind at the time of selection. But for those who do not exercise that right, and die intestate, laws have been enacted in each state which guarantee an orderly distribution of the decedent's estate. Regardless of surviving parents of siblings, a person's spouse and/or children usually share in the entire estate. In most states children receive at least 50 percent of the parent's property. For those who are married and childless at death, the parents usually share in the estate with the spouse. If the parents have predeceased the decedent, the spouse is usually the sole or primary heir but a large minority of states permit siblings and their descedents to share in the estate with the spouse. For those who are unmarried, parents usually inherit their children's entire estate. Should no spouse, child, parent, sibling or their descendants survive the decedent, the next of kin according to lineal blood ties are usually designated as takers under the intestate succession statutes. The opportunity to distribute material possessions accumulated during a lifetime, and the probability of acquiring inheritable possessions, are ( 1980 The University of North Carolina Press. 0037-7732/80/041263-71$00.9

Public Versus Statutory Choice of Heirs: A Study of Public Attitudes about Property Distribution at Death

Intestate succession statutes should reflect the distributive preferences of intestate decendents. This telephone survey of 750 persons living in Alabama, California, Massachusetts, Ohio, and Texas supplements prior will studies and provides new insights concerning public attitudes about property distribution at death. Two other important findings of this study suggest that a modern intestacy statute should provide that (1) the surviving spouse inherit the entire estate in preference to the decendent's issue or family of orientation and (2) issue who are in the same generation share equally in the estate.

The public's view of physicians' assistants and nurse practitioners: a survey of Baltimore urban residents.

This study of public attitudes toward physicians' assistants and nurse practitioners finds that the public regards the two groups of health workers as remarkably similar. A telephone survey of 2,583 households in the Baltimore, Maryland, metropolitan area indicates that about half the population have heard of a PA or NP, though only 4 per cent report receiving care from such workers. In this urban sample, respondents accepted the principle that important medical care functions can be delegated, as long as the PA or NP is considered assistant to the physician. The public reported more acceptance of tasks performed by nurse practitioners than by physicians' assistants, though the differences are small.

The Cultural Roots of a New Legislature: Public Perceptions of the Korean National Assembly

A study of public attitudes toward the Korean National Assembly was undertaken in 1973 as part of a larger survey of public perceptions of legislators and the legislature in developing countries. It showed that about half of the Korean citizens are generally familiar with the legislature, and that this group belongs to the more modern segment of Korean society. Public expectations regarding the legislature are somewhat contradictory, but there is considerable stress on legislators' responsiveness to constituency interests. Public support for the National Assembly is remarkably high. It is highest among citizens familiar with the Assembly and with their own legislators, and generally among citizens in the modern sector of society.

Attitudes toward drug abuse among residents in a therapeutic community.

In recent years there has been a considerable amount of literature reported about drug abuse and the drug abuser. Generally, the reported evidence pertaining to attitudes toward drug abuse has been concerned with nonusers. Among those, Baker and Isaacs (1970) in a study of visiting nurses, law students, and policemen suggest that these individuals see drug abuse as a physical and mental illness. Pattison (1968) in a study of public attitudes toward narcotic addiction suggests the public sees the addict as less responsible for his behavior. Ferneau and Gertler (in press) studied the first-year psychiatric residents' attitudes toward drug abuse and the drug user and concluded that “this is how we rate these beginners in psychiatry—as more negative than not in the area of drug abuse.” Levitt and his colleagues (1963), in a study of hospital employee attitudes toward the treatment of drug addiction, noted that addicts were perceived as less undesirable among those employees whom they had direct contact with t...

METHODOLOGY FOR THE STUDY FOR PUBLIC ATTITUDES CONCERNING AIR POLLUTION.

A significant element of a community's total air pollution picture is the “state of mind” of the people living in the area with respect to air pollution. The reasons why a study of public attitudes can be an important factor in planning an air pollution control program are briefly summarized. The methodology applied in one such study in the St. Louis Metropolitan area is described, and possible variations related to different scope, objectives and survey area characteristics are suggested.

A new application of survey techniques to the study of public attitudes toward contributing to social agencies.

A new application of survey techniques to the study of public attitudes toward contributing to social agencies.