Sixth Arkansas Poll Asks About Same-Sex Marriage, Term Limits and Water Quality

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - For the sixth consecutive year, the Arkansas Poll is coming to a telephone near you. Researchers at the University of Arkansas, together with trained interviewers from the UA Survey Research Center (SRC), conduct the random-sample telephone survey each year to give adult Arkansans the opportunity to weigh in on political and policy issues.

Calling for the poll commences Sunday, Oct. 3, and will be completed by the third week of the month. Results from the poll will be released to the news media statewide on Monday, Oct. 25.

"The Arkansas Poll presents a chance for the university to serve the community and state," said Janine Parry, associate professor of political science and director of the poll.

As a land-grant institution, the University of Arkansas has a responsibility not just to impart knowledge to its students, Parry said, but to distribute knowledge among all Arkansans in a way that both informs and empowers them.

By opening a line of communication between citizens and policymakers, the Arkansas Poll enables both to make more informed decisions about politics and the directions of progress in the state.

The 2004 poll consists of approximately 60 questions and addresses a series of current issues, including same-sex marriage, education finance, gun control, abortion and term limits. It also collects standard information on demographics and party affiliation of the respondents, as well as approval ratings for various public officials.

Sponsored by the Diane D. Blair Center for Southern Politics and Society, the Arkansas Poll is designed primarily by researchers in the UA political science department, though the core polling team reaches out each year to collaborative partners in other fields. This year a trio of economists is investigating water quality issues while two members of the nursing faculty are examining attitudes about health insurance.

The poll is administered by the SRC. The SRC employs about 50 trained interviewers to place thousands of calls using a computer-aided telephone interviewing (CATI) system. The CATI system automatically takes interviewers to the appropriate question, depending on the respondents' answers, to avoid skipping questions or making errors.

"The software is able to adjust the sequence of questions, according to the responses," SRC Director Molly Longstreth said. "It allows us to be much more accurate in collecting and recording our data."

She demonstrated how the interviewer clicks the appropriate choice, based on the response, and the software automatically brings up the next question. For instance, if the respondents indicate they are not originally from Arkansas, the next question will ask where they lived before coming to Arkansas; if they lived their whole lives in Arkansas, the software will adjust to ask another question.

Many interviewers work for the SRC repeatedly, returning each time it has a survey to conduct. Others are students or community members. When the SRC needs additional interviewers it advertises on the UA Web site. The interviewers are trained extensively through modules at the computer stations. They receive between four and six hours of general training, as well as about two hours of training on each particular survey.

The interviewers work at 22 different stations in the SRC. Some work a two-hour shift, while others work all day, evenings or weekends. They make thousands of calls in order to obtain 750 completed surveys. Each respondent is screened to make sure they are at least 18 years of age and an Arkansas resident.

The interviewers generally elicit a good reception from the people they call, though many are wary of the evening or weekend call being a telemarketer or push poll.

"We don't do any partisan polls or advertising," Longstreth emphasized. "We do work for faculty who are doing research, for the university, for nonprofits and government, and we can do surveys for private businesses as well."

By the time the interviewers start calling for the Arkansas Poll, many people have read about the poll in the newspaper or seen it on the news, so they are ready to participate when the call comes.

Over the past six years, the Arkansas Poll has identified and tracked numerous critical issues in Arkansas, collecting public opinion data on affirmative action, property taxes, abortion, medical marijuana, environmental policy, the economy and the role of women in public office, among other topics.

Providing a record of public opinion on these and other issues represents one of the primary functions of the Arkansas Poll. Over the past six years, the poll has generated a substantial database - a compendium of attitudes and opinions across the state that scholars will be able to use for decades to come, not just to examine political sentiment but also to identify social trends and to provide context around historical events.

In addition to providing data for scholarly research, the poll serves Arkansas leaders by connecting them to the values and outlooks of their constituents. Such insight can help officials better serve citizens and more effectively represent their views.