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Tag: Poll

  • Marijuana Legalization: New Survey Shows Americans Not Reversing on Legalization Trend

    Polling data company CivicScience has released the results of a new poll that show that Americans are more supportive than ever of the idea of legalizing marijuana. In fact, the majority of Americans are behind the idea, and the margin has grown since the last polling three months ago.

    Respondents were asked the question: “Would you support or oppose a law in your state that would legalize, tax, and regulate marijuana like alcohol?”

    Over the past two years, the question has been asked multiple times, with average results of: 58% of respondents support legalization; 35% oppose it; 7% have no strong opinion.

    But the more interesting tidbit of info mined from the poll is that there was a spike in support within the past three months: support bumps up to 61%, while 30% oppose, and 8% have no strong opinion.

    As for a further breakdown of the data, further revealing factoids include that men favor legalization only slightly more than women (60% vs. 55%). Young people between the ages of 25 and 34 were most likely to support legalization (67%), while folks over 65 oppose legalization by a margin of 50% oppose to 43% support.

    Also, 77% of people who polled as “loving reggae” music were legalization supporters. They also love Haagen-Dasz ice cream and Comedy Central.

    This seemingly stereotypical response did not concern the pollsters. But they also mentioned that legalization opponents claim to love Glenn Beck and Ann Coulter, shop at Walmart, and eat at Cracker Barrel.

    But one critical bit of data for the number crunchers to consider is that of voting involvement. According to the survey, 58% of supporters say they always vote in political elections, while 68% of non-supporters do.

    Of course, percentages are tricky things. What that means is that 58% of respondents support legalization, and 58% of that number vote. While only 35% oppose, and 68% of that number vote. That’s 33 out of 100 respondents voting for; and almost 24 out of 100 respondents actively voting against.

    At that rate, the trend toward legalization is not likely to reverse.

  • George W. Bush a Better President Than Obama, According to New Poll

    President Obama’s approval poll numbers have been sitting at low levels for months now. The botched roll-out of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) healthcare markets hit his approval numbers hard. The government shutdown of 2013, though caused by House Republicans, dragged down the president’s approval numbers as Americans grew ever-more tired of legislative gridlock. Foreign policy headaches such as the Russian invasion of Crimea and civil wars in both Iraq and Syria have also driven down the president’s foreign policy approval numbers.

    Now a new poll shows just how little some Americans think of President Obama. The poll, released on Wednesday by the Quinnipiac University Poll, shows that nearly one-third of Americans believe Obama is the worst U.S. president since World War II.

    This compares to 28% of those polled who said that George W. Bush is the worst U.S. president since that time. Perhaps even worse, 45% of those polled said that they believe the country would be better off if Mitt Romney had won the 2012 presidential election and a majority (54%) said that the current administration is not competently running the U.S. government.

    “Over the span of 69 years of American history and 12 presidencies, President Barack Obama finds himself with President George W. Bush at the bottom of the popularity barrel,” said Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll.

    Well into his second term, President Obama’s approval ratings now sit at an all-time low for this president. The percentage of Americans who approve of the president’s job record hit just 42% last October, and that number has dipped to 41% in subsequent months.

    At the other end of the spectrum, many Americans are pining for a return of the Gipper. Over one-third (35%) of those polled by Quinnipiac said that Ronald Reagan was the best president of the past seven decades. Other (relatively) popular presidents include Bill Clinton (18%) and John Kennedy (15%). Obama finished fourth-best in the poll with just 8% of Americans calling him the best president since FDR.

    Image via the White House

  • Big Bang Theory Doubted by Majority of Americans

    A recent poll conducted by the Associated Press-GfK sought to test public perception, knowledge, and confidence in certain scientific principles which are whole-heartedly accepted as fact by the scientific community – things such as smoking’s impact on cancer rates, the plausibility of evolution, and the age of the Earth. Unfortunately, the results of the poll show that many Americans are still science-deniers, despite living in an age of high science and technological advancement.

    The poll was conducted by phoning over 1,000 people and asking them their confidence in certain statements, such as, “Smoking causes cancer,” with the scale ranging from “Extremely Confident” to “Not at all Confident.”

    When it comes to people’s perceptions of whether smoking causes cancer, that a mental illness is a medical condition, that genetic codes determine who we are, that overusing antibiotics can be detrimental, that a supreme being guided the creation of the Earth, or that vaccines are safe, the majority of Americans feel very confident in asserting those statements are true.

    When it comes to more controversial and less-tangible ideas, however, the confidence of the American public beings to wane.

    For instance, only 55 percent of people are either extremely confident or somewhat confident that life on Earth evolved through natural selection, while only 60 percent feel confident in affirming the statement that Earth is 4.5 billion years old.

    Big Bang Poll Results

    The most surprising finding from the poll, however, is the fact that only 46 percent of Americans feel confident in the statement that “The universe began 13.8 billion years ago with a big bang,” with 52 percent of respondents stating they are not confident or not at all confident that the statement is true.

    The data has many in the scientific community upset and sad. “It is enormously distressing that science, which is our most powerful means for gaining insight into the world, insight into truth, is so mistrusted by so many people,” declared Brian Greene, a professor of physics and mathematics at Columbia University.

    Anthony Leiserowitz, director of the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication, believes that this poll strongly displays the “the iron triangle of science, religion and politics.”

    In other words, religion and politics have perhaps too much influence on how the public perceives and processes scientific data.

    “When you are putting up facts against faith, facts can’t argue against faith. It makes sense now that science would have made no headway because faith is untestable,” stated professor Robert Lefkowitz of Duke University, winner of the 2012 Nobel Prize for biochemistry.

    The poll found that people who identified themselves as Democrats were more likely to feel confident in the scientific statements than their Republican counterparts and that those who regularly attended church services or who identified as evangelist were less likely to affirm the statements as true.

    “Science ignorance is pervasive in our society, and these attitudes are reinforced when some of our leaders are openly antagonistic to established facts,” said 2013 Nobel Prize in medicine winner Randy Schekman.

    Unfortunately for the scientific community, the poll results are consistent with the 2014 National Science Foundation’s “Science and Engineering Indicators” report which revealed that only 48 percent of people believed that life evolved over time and a paltry 39 percent believe that the formation of the universe started with a “huge explosion.”

    Perhaps most disturbing is the fact that the 2014 NSF report found that “The public’s level of factual knowledge about science has not changed much over the past two decades.”

    With the plethora of huge scientific advances and discoveries that have occurred over the past two decades, including the recent discovery of big bang waves essentially proving the big bang theory, it is quite disheartening that the American public is equally as knowledgable now as Americans in 1994.

    Images via Wikimedia Commons and Twitter

  • Most Desirable Woman of 2014: The Mother of Dragons

    Khaleesi, the Mother of Dragons, has officially taken over Katniss Everdeen. The results were published on Tuesday for AskMen’s 13th edition of its annual 99 Most Desirable Woman in the World List. Game of Thrones British beauty Emilia Clarke, 26, took the top spot away from last year’s number one hottie, Jennifer Lawrence, who finished in the fourth spot this year.

    The poll is not just about sheer sexiness. The magazine asked readers to vote for the females that “most match their ideals, voting on more than just sex appeal and taking into account other criteria such as character, talent and potential of 2014.” The poll received more than a million votes.

    The top five spots, in order, went to: Emilia Clarke, Alison Brie (Community), Emily Ratajkowki (from the Blurred Lines video), Emma Watson (Harry Potter.)

    Post by AskMen.com.

    One would think that A-List Hollywood film actresses and top fashion models would dominate this sort of list, but surprisingly, it was television actresses who repeatedly made the cut. AskMen publisher James Bassil said, “More than a third of the finalists are from TV series.”

    Fanboys definitely had their say. Not only was Clarke at the top of the list but her Game of Thrones co-stars Oona Chaplin came in at #43 and Rose Leslie at #61. A few other television stars making the list included: Kerry Washington #7 (Scandal), Kat Dennings #12 (2 Broke Girls), Zooey Deschanel #17 (New Girl), Amy Poehler #23 (Parks and Recreation), Taylor Schilling #38 (Orange is the New Black), Sofia Vergara #40 (Modern Family), Robin Wright #95 (House of Cards.)

    Post by AskMen.com.

    And since it’s Olympic time, don’t forget about all the desirable female athletes out there. Lolo Jones #15, Alex Morgan #45, Hope Solo #78 and Hannah Teter #92.

    Tell us what you think. Did the AskMen voters get it right? Who do you think should have been included on the list or placed in a different spot?

    Image via Wikimedia

  • Sochi Olympics Not Winning Over Americans, Poll Says

    According to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll, 4 of every 10 Americans have unfavorable impressions of the upcoming Winter Olympiad in Sochi. Half of respondents had a favorable impression and 10 percent didn’t care either way. In comparison, the run-up to the 2012 London Olympics saw 72 percent approval and only 16 percent unfavorable impressions.

    This lukewarm reception likely stems from a mishmash of sources, from the mindboggling price tag (over $50 billion), concerns over security, and President Vladimir Putin’s anti-gay remarks and legislation.

    The Washington Post-ABC poll numbers are backed up by a Pew Research Center poll released Tuesday that showed a plurality of Americans believing that holding the Olympics in Russia was a “bad decision.” Respondents in that poll overwhelmingly cited security concerns.

    Fifty-three percent have favorable views on Russia’s anti-terrorism efforts, a tepid but generally positive assessment is strongly connected to how the games are viewed overall. Those who view Russia’s efforts on terrorism favorably likewise tend to see the games favorably by a 68 to 25 percent margin; those who have unfavorable impressions invert those figures, with 68 percent unfavorable to 29 percent favorable.

    American liberals are least enthusiastic—with only 44 percent favorable impressions—likely due to a series of rows over gay rights. Moderates weighed in at 57 percent and conservatives at 51. So, essentially, we’ve finally found a salve for American partisan bickering—everybody can dislike the Olympics at roughly the same proportion.

    But while Sochi lags well behind London in American hearts and minds, pollsters provided a frame of reference that takes out some of the sting. While Americans are collectively “meh”ing over Sochi, they gave President Putin a far worse evaluation at only 27 percent favorable impressions. And who do we hate even more than Putin? Tonya Harding, clinging to relevance in 2014.

    Here’s a sampling of Olympic-related poll numbers over the past 20 years:

      Olympic swimming (2012) 79% favorable, 16% unfavorable
      London Olympics (2012) 72% favorable, 16% unfavorable
      Nancy Kerrigan (1994) 54% favorable, 38% unfavorable
      Sochi Olympics (2014) 50% favorable, 40% unfavorable
      Dressage (2012) 47% favorable, 27% unfavorable
      Vladimir Putin (2014) 27% favorable, 58% unfavorable
      Tonya Harding (1994) 10% favorable, 78% unfavorable

    So apparently Americans disliked Tonya Harding as much as they liked Ryan Lochte. Go figure.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Most Americans Think This Congress is the Worst They’ve Seen

    This year has not been an encouraging one for American politics. The in-fighting in congress seemed to increase in the wake of the 2012 presidential election, and Republican opposition to President Obama is as staunch as ever.

    The gridlock in congress this year culminated in House Republicans shutting down the U.S. government in October in protest over the rollout of major Affordable Care Act (colloquially known as Obamacare) provisions. This coincided with the flubbed launch of the Healthcare.org website, and led to American disapproval of congress hitting a record low in November. American approval of congress also hit a new low for the entire year of 2013.

    Now it seems that Americans have not just lost faith in congress, but most now consider this particular congress the worst they have ever seen.

    A new CNN/ORC International poll released today shows that more than two-thirds of Americans consider the current congress to be the worst in their lifetime.

    At issue seems to be the fact that congress can’t get anything meaningful done. The poll shows that 73% of those polled believe this congress has “done nothing to address the country’s problems.”

    Though this sentiment is shared among all demographics polled, the solution to the problem is, of course, different depending on political orientation. 52% of those polled say that congressional Democrats would lead the country in “the wrong direction,” while 54% say the same about congressional Republicans. 54% also believe that President Obama’s policies would be bad for America.

    With Americans so split about the future of the U.S., it seems only natural that the current congress should reflect that conflict. Though embarrassment over the government shutdown seems to have spurred congress into actually passing a budget, Americans can look forward to a 2014 election year full of more accusations, hyperbole, and gridlock in congress.

    Image via Martin Falbisoner/Wikimedia Commons

  • Majority of Americans Will Not Shop on Black Friday

    Majority of Americans Will Not Shop on Black Friday

    With stores opening on Thanksgiving day for Black Friday deals this year, consumers are now under more pressure than ever to fit cut-rate shopping into their holiday schedules. Though millions of Americans will line-up and fight over the inexpensive electronics and toys on Friday, it appears that most Americans will not be tempted by this weekend’s sales.

    A new Consumer Reports survey has shown that 56% of Americans do not plant to shop at all this holiday weekend, either in stores or online. Though a majority of Americans will still avoid Black Friday, the 44% who will do some shopping this weekend represent a 14% increase from last year’s Black Friday.

    “Those who intend to go out shopping on Black Friday probably know what to expect, and to them that’s part of the allure,” said Tod Marks, senior editor for Consumer Reports. “However, it’s easy to get caught up in the shopping frenzy and spend more than you really want to. That’s why it’s important to do your homework beforehand, have a plan and stick to it.”

    Of the American majority who will skip shopping this weekend, most of them (70%) cited the large Black Friday crowds as the reason they will opt out. Just over one-third of them (34%) believe that Black Friday deals are “too overhyped” and 30% simply don’t want to get up early. 33% would rather “do something else” such as spend time with family, which 29% of those not shopping this weekend would rather do.

    For those who will brave the cold and the crowds this Friday (and this year, Thursday), a majority (55%) simply can’t resist the low prices and plan to shop this weekend because the specials will be “the best deals of the year.” 43% also cite the “door-buster deals” as the reason for shopping this weekend, while a full 23% of those planning on shopping this Black Friday now consider it to be a tradition.

  • Obamacare Starts Next Year, Opposed by Over Half of Americans

    Obamacare Starts Next Year, Opposed by Over Half of Americans

    Major segments of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act – known colloquially as “Obamacare” – are set to go into effect by January 1, 2014. Programs such as health insurance exchanges; insurer prohibitions against pre-existing medical condition discrimination and annual spending caps; and an expansion of medicaid eligibility are all scheduled to roll out.

    Over half of Americans, however, seem wary of the changes coming to the country’s healthcare system.

    A new poll conducted by CNN and ORC International earlier this month found that 54% of Americans generally oppose Obamacare. 35% of survey respondents opposed the legislation for being “too liberal,” while 16% opposed it for being “not liberal enough.”

    The survey polled 923 adult Americans by telephone. Of those polled, 648 were interviewed through a landline telephone, and 275 were reached through a cell phone. 24% of respondents described themselves as Republicans, 33% described themselves as Democrats, and 43% described themselves as either independent or a member of another party.

    Though Obamacare was signed into law in 2010, conservatives have since used the bill as a rallying point for their stated opposition to larger government programs. The legislation has most famously been opposed by retiring U.S. Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann, who has filed multiple bills to repeal the act, and once hyperbolically stated that it should be repealed “before it literally kills women, kills children, kills senior citizens.”

  • Two-Thirds of Countries Worldwide Claim Media Freedom

    According to a recent poll, roughly two-thirds of adults surveyed from 133 countries and regions say that they enjoy a lot of media freedom. This median has gone essentially unchanged since a similar poll was conducted in 2010 – 67% of those surveyed said their media was free, as compared to the 65% from the more recent poll. Views of media freedom vary worldwide, ranging from 23% in Belarus to 97% in Finland.

    Countries with the lowest perceived media freedom lie in regions spanning the Middle East, sub-Saharan Africa and former Soviet Union countries. Less than 40% of adults in Gabon, Armenia, Palestinian Territories, and Iraq claim there is little freedom in their media, despite legal or constitution mandates put in place to guarantee free speech and press.

    Perceived media freedom is highest in developed regions in Asia, Europe and North America. Ghana is the only sub-Saharan African country where over 90% of adults claim to have media freedom. Still, independent research by organizations like Freedom House suggest small discrepancies between what experts who make external evaluations assume, and what the people being polled think. For example, 80% or more residents of Botswana, Cambodia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Kuwait, and Liberia say that their media is free, even though Freedom House classifies the media in these regions as being not free.

  • Rush Limbaugh Should Be Fired, Say Most Republicans

    Rush Limbaugh Should Be Fired, Say Most Republicans

    Right about now, Rush Limbaugh may be wishing he had not called Sandra Fluke a slut. Even after an apology that few think he meant, advertisers have bailed on Limbaugh in record numbers. The flagship station for his show, WABC in New York, have been forced to play unpaid PSAs rather than commercials in most of his ad slots. Unprecedented amounts of dead air in some of the slots have been reported.

    And now, even as Limbaugh tries to rally the faithful, Bloomberg has released a new poll that indicates that most Republicans think it’s time for Rush Limbaugh to go away.

    Limbaugh has run several segments in the past few weeks with titles containing phrases like “Don’t Doubt Me” and “Everything’s Cool Here” and “Don’t Doubt Our Enthusiasm”

    But, the numbers are showing things unraveling for Limbaugh. This week, his syndicator Premiere Networks, notified affiliate stations that they did not need to run their obligatory barter spots that offset the cost of Limbaugh’s program in their markets. Those spots are fed from the syndicator, and they simply may not have enough varied material to send after the advertiser walkout. So, they are, in effect, telling the local stations, “You fill those slots. Don’t let there be silence or PSAs.” But, with a sustained local boycott nationwide, it’s getting tougher and tougher to fill the silence, despite what Limbaugh tells his supporters. The proof is in the airtime. Commercials are not there.

    Local markets are starting to address the question of whether or not the Limbaugh program should be dropped there. One station, WISN in Milwaukee, posted a blog entry asking that very question. Local journalist Duane Dudek made a couple of salient points that should be looked at in all Limbaugh markets.

    Is there a chance that WISN-AM (1130) would ever drop the conservative talk show hosted by Rush Limbaugh?

    Unlikely, considering the show is distributed by the station’s owner.

    According to Talkers Magazine, Limbaugh’s show reaches 15 million listeners a week and is the top-rated radio talk show in the nation. Second-ranked Sean Hannity has 14 million listeners.

    Locally, his ratings picture is not so rosy.

    Limbaugh’s show on WISN-AM is 11th-ranked in its time slot. Local conservative talker Jeff Wagner, airing opposite on WTMJ-AM (620), is ranked second, with almost twice as many listeners.

    The number of stations Limbaugh is on is commonly listed as 650. However, on his own site, there are only 594 listed. When you start to research those stations to find contacts to speak with, you soon start to realize that many of these are Clear Channel stations, which have no choice in the matter of whether or not it is in their local interest to air Limbaugh’s program.

    What would Limbaugh’s next likely move be, if bad comes to worse?

    Satellite radio is a possibility, as is an online format. It seems unlikely that Limbaugh will tell his listeners that he has lost so many advertisers that he is forced to leave terrestrial radio. When a boycott against Dr. Laura Schlessinger killed her television show and finally forced her off radio, she told her fans that she was going online so as to regain her First Amendments rights.

  • National Taxpayers Union Says Americans Oppose Search Engine Regulation

    The debate surrounding search engines and regulation only seems to be increasing with recent developments. Various privacy and consumer groups have encouraged the government to intervene claiming that consumers need to be protected. Although some investigations are pending, the feds have not stepped in with any action yet.

    Is government regulation needed in search engines? Please comment.

    Interestingly, new research reveals how the majority of Americans feel about these issues. A poll from Zogby International and commissioned by the National Taxpayers Union found that most people in the U.S. are satisfied with the search options they currently have and do not want the government to get involved.

    Pete Sepp, the Executive Vice President of NTU, told WebProNews that 87 percent of the more than 2,000 respondents agreed with the following statement: “I feel I can easily switch to a competing search engine if I’m not happy with the results I receive.”

    “The majorities are quite overwhelming,” said Sepp. “In fact, when asked if people thought that they could always switch to a new search if they were dissatisfied with the results they were getting, by nearly an 11-1 margin, they said so… versus those who thought that they were trapped or locked into a current search engine.”

    “There’s obviously a great deal of consumer freedom, as expressed in these poll results,” he added.

    Pete Sepp, Executive Vice President of the National Taxpayers Union Sepp also told us that the skepticism regarding government regulation was also “overwhelming.” When respondents were asked if “the federal government should regulate the content and appearance of search engines and their results,” 64 percent strongly disagreed while only 3 percent strongly agreed.

    “We found overwhelming majorities saying that government had no business in trying to determine how search engine results should appear or how search engines should work in the first place,” said Sepp.

    The NTU found that most consumers believe that if the government gets involved in search engines, that the results would be harmful. Specifically, they think that it would lead to reduced consumer choice and innovation.

    The poll surveyed Americans across various demographic categories, including age, income, educational level, and ideology. However, Sepp pointed out that it was interesting how both self-identified Democrats and Republicans were against government regulation of search engines.

    “It appears that once people are made aware of this issue, [they] are very, very concerned that further government and involvement will simply lead to disastrous results,” he said.

    How would you vote in this poll? Let us know.

    Sepp went on to say that since the message from consumers is loud and clear, the government should “speak very carefully” and “tread very lightly” in these matters.

    If you remember, as WebProNews previously reported, President Obama recently released his privacy proposal that calls for Congress to implement a Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights. NTU is hoping that its findings will be heard by policymakers before they take any steps toward regulating the Web.

    Incidentally, a new report out today from the Pew Internet and American Life Project shows that even though Americans are very satisfied with the quality of search results, they are concerned with how search engines collect and use their data. According to the report, users are particularly concerned with data collection being used to personalize results and for ad targeting purposes.

    In fact, the research found that three-quarters of searchers are against data collection for personalizing results.

    Also, Pew found that two-thirds of Web users have an “unfavorable” view of online targeted advertising because they do not like having their behaviors tracked and analyzed.

    Based on the research from both NTU and Pew, it appears that consumers have mixed feelings about their search experience and privacy. What’s your take? Are you worried about search engines collecting your data but not enough for government to intervene? Or, would like to for the government to regulate these practices? Share your thoughts with us.

  • Facebook Timeline Users Are Unhappy: Infographic

    Whether you love the new Timeline or despise its very creation, you’re getting it, like it or not. Recently SodaHead.com surveyed its users and the results are predominately not in favor for the Timeline.

    SodaHead.com is the world’s largest opinion based community and its recent survey found that 70 percent of those responding to the poll were not in favor of Timeline; they voted that Facebook “lose it”.

    Only 20 percent of those polled were in favor of the Timeline and a very small 10 percent claimed to not use Facebook at all.

    The poll found users between the ages of 18 and 24 like Timeline and only a finite 10 percent of users 65 and over thought the change was “neat”. Broken into genders, men and women had exactly the same opinion. 77 percent dislike it, while 23 percent like it.

    In countries like India and Brazil Facebook is growing drastically; the poll found users outside of America are more welcoming of the new Timeline.

    Facebook experienced a drop in traffic, but thanks to foreign traffic the social media network is still growing and shows no signs of stopping anytime soon.

  • Steve Jobs vs. Kim Jong-il: Ranking The Famous Deaths of 2011

    While most of us come and leave this world with little fanfare, there are those among us whose passing, especially if untimely, captures hearts and headlines around the world. The death of a celebrity, or prominent public figure, just does something to people. A death can stir up fond memories, extreme hatred, or obsessive curiosity.

    Rank the famous deaths of 2011.

    Every year we’re shocked by some of the deaths we read about, and 2011 was no different. This year we saw the deaths of Steve Jobs, Osama bin Laden, Kim Jong-il, Andy Rooney, Jack Kevorkian, Betty Ford, Heavy D, “Macho Man” Randy Savage, Amy Winehouse, Joe Frazier, among others.

    If someone was to ask you to name the top 10 famous deaths of 2011… could you do it? It’s tougher than you might imagine.

    With this in mind, FamousDead.com has released a poll where you can rank the famous deaths of 2011. To contribute, you simply have to drag and drop the images in order 1-10.

    Once you’ve made your selections just hit submit and you’ll be taking to a page that shows your top 10 famous deaths of 2011. You can also share your top 10 via Facebook. Please note that you must be logged into Facebook in order to save your votes, this is so we can assure that everyone only casts one top 10 list.

    FamousDead will close submissions during the first week of 2012, and will also reveal the top 10 deaths of 2011.

    Note: This poll was created by FamousDead.com, a website owned by iEntry, which also publishes WebProNews.