METHODOLOGY STATEMENT FROM SURVEY USA
SurveyUSA interviewed 849 adults nationwide Friday 03/16/12 through Monday 03/19/12. Research conceptualized and commissioned by iMediaEthics.org. Adults reachable on a home telephone (68% 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”) (32% 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, Conn. 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.
iMediaEthics Topline for Auto Industry Poll
(Totals do not always equal 100% because of rounding.)
Q.1A [ASKED OF HALF SAMPLE; N=424; MOE = +/- 3%.]
As you may recall during the financial market problems of 2008, the government made
loans to General Motors and Chrysler. Do you think this was mostly good or mostly bad for the economy, or are you unsure?
40% Mostly good
33% Mostly bad
26% Unsure
1% DK/NA
Q.2A [ASKED OF THOSE WHO SAID LOANS WERE GOOD OR BAD; N=308; MOE = +/- 6%.]
How strongly do you feel about that?
57% Very strongly
36% Somewhat strongly
6% Not too strongly
1% Not strongly at all
Q. 3A [ASKED OF THOSE WHO SAID ‘UNSURE’ OR ‘DK/NA’ IN Q1A; N=117; MOE = +/- 9%.]
Do you lean toward thinking it was good or lean toward thinking it was bad for the economy?
38% Lean toward thinking it was good for the economy
30% Lean toward thinking it was bad for the economy
32% Don’t lean
COMBINED RESULTS OF Q1A THROUGH Q3A – WERE LOANS TO GM AND CHRYSLER MOSTLY GOOD OR MOSTLY BAD FOR THE ECONOMY?
20% Mostly good (feel “very strongly”)
19% Mostly good (don’t feel “very strongly”)
11% Mostly good (lean in that direction)
9% No opinion
8% Mostly bad (lean in that direction)
12% Mostly bad (don’t feel “very strongly”)
21% Mostly bad (feel “very strongly”)
Q1B [ASKED OF HALF SAMPLE; N=425; MOE = +/- 3%.]
Now, thinking back to one of the major actions taken by the federal government in the last four years, would you say you approve or disapprove of the financial bailout for U.S. automakers that were in danger of failing, or are you unsure?
37% Approve
40% Disapprove
21% Unsure
2% DK/NA
Q.2B [ASKED OF THOSE WHO SAID APPROVE OR DISAPPROVE OF BAILOUT; N=329; MOE = +/- 5%.]
How strongly do you feel about that?
68% Very strongly
25% Somewhat strongly
4% Not too strongly
3% Not strongly at all
Q. 3B [ASKED OF THOSE WHO SAID ‘UNSURE’ OR ‘DK/NA’ IN Q1B; N=96; MOE = +/- 10%.]
Do you lean toward approve or disapprove?
31% Lean toward approve
35% Lean toward disapprove
34% Don’t lean
COMBINED RESULTS OF Q1B THROUGH Q3B – APPROVE OR DISAPPROVE OF GOVERNMENT BAILOUT OF AUTO INDUSTRY
23% Approve (“very strongly”)
14% Approve (not “very strongly”)
7% Approve (“lean” in that direction)
8% No opinion
8% Disapprove (“lean” in that direction)
10% Disapprove (not “very strongly”)
30% Disapprove (“very strongly”)
Q.4 [ASKED OF ALL RESPONDENTS; N=849; MOE = +/- 3.4%.]
Finally, how closely would you say you’ve followed this issue:
22% Extremely closely
27% Very closely
31% Somewhat closely
11% Not too closely
8% Not closely at all
1% DK/NA
Q5. [ASKED OF ALL RESPONDENTS; N=849; MOE = +/- 3.4%.]
Has General Motors paid back to the government –
8% None of the money it received
36% Some of the money,
19% All of the money it received, or
37% Do you not know enough to say?
Q6. [ASKED OF ALL RESPONDENTS; N=849; MOE = +/- 3.4%.]
Has Chrysler paid back to the government –
10% None of the money it received,
26% Some of the money,
17% All of the money it received, or
46% Do you not know enough to say?
Read David Moore’s report on the Auto Industry poll here.
This Poll is part of iMediaEthics’ PollCheck project to fact check media polls.
More iMediaEthics polls found here