Unl election study 2011 presentation

2. What We Did
• IRB certification of all 34 students involved
• Six individual groups involved
• Analyzed every question in class
• Promotion through social media, Daily
Nebraskan
• Made survey available to all UNL students

3. What we wanted to know:
• We sought to provide a snapshot of the
political and campus landscape
• Campus attitudes
• Nebraska issues
• Political knowledge
• Reaction to questions with different frames
• Student stance on national issues
• Elections

4. What is the Husker Poll?
• Survey of 3352 UNL students to understand
student stance on a number of issues on
campus, state and national levels.

5. What did we learn?

6. Campus Survey Demographics
• 55% women, 45% men
• 73% undergraduates, 27% graduate students
• 70% born in Nebraska, 92% born in U.S.
• 45% Republican, 42% Democrat, 13%
Independent
• 37% liberal, 27% moderate, 36% conservative

7. Campus issues

8. Scale of 1 to 7, 7=strongly agree
Student-Professor Relations
• Students, at undergraduate and graduate levels and
regardless of political ideology, believe their professors are
fair with them and provide an unbiased environment in
which to learn.
• My professors try to make class a fair and unbiased place:
mean score 5.79
• My professors grade students more harshly if they have
different political beliefs: 1.18
• My professors don’t try to change students' political
opinions to match their own: 5.54
• My professors treat students fairly: 6

9. UNL Students on UNL to the Big 10
Conference
• 66% believe UNL joined due to a mix of
academic and athletic reasons
• 82% strongly supported the move

10. Student Involvement
• 38% of students study more than 10 hours a
week. Only 1% say they never study
• 80% of students participate in at least 1 extra
curricular activity, 28% do 3 or more.

11. Student General Knowledge

12. Which member of the House of Representatives
represents UNL?(Jeff Fortenberry)
# Answer Response %
1 Mike Johanns 459 15%
2 Jeff Fortenberry 1,475 50%
3 Ben Nelson 614 21%
4 Lee Terry 428 14%
Total 2,976 100%

13. Who are Nebraska’s three members of the U.S.
House of Representatives?(3)
# Answer Response %
1 Candice Miller, Ben 231 8%
Nelson, and Jeff
Fortenberry
2 Jeff Fortenberry, Lee 688 23%
Terry, and Mike Johanns
3 Lee Terry, Jeff 1,329 44%
Fortenberry, and Adrian
Smith
4 Ben Nelson, Mike 716 24%
Johanns, and Lee Terry
5 Bo Pelini, Tom Osborne, 36 1%
and Alex Henery
Total 3,000 100%

14. Who is UNL’s student body
president?(Lane Carr)
# Answer Response %
1 Lane Carr 1,401 46%
2 Matt Hilgenkamp 692 23%
3 Jeff Lopez 430 14%
4 Justin Solomon 498 16%
Total 3,021 100%

15. Who is the Dean of Admissions at
UNL? (Alan Cerveny)
# Answer Response %
1 Elbert Dickey 304 10%
2 Alan Cerveny 1,848 61%
3 Patrick Dussault 481 16%
4 Joan Giesecke 388 13%
Total 3,021 100%

16. Nebraska Issues

17. Legal Drinking age
• Support for the legal
drinking age to be lowered
to 19 (38% of campus
approved, but 44% of
freshmen approved)

18. Do you support Nebraska’s Do you support the
Fetal Pain Bill? defunding of Planned
Parenthood?

19. Experimental Questions

20. UNL Rec Center
“Do you support the Campus Rec Renovations
which will provide more exercise equipment
for students to use?” 70% answered YES
• “Do you support Campus Rec renovations
despite $20 million price tag?” 50% answered
YES

21. Wet Campus
• “Some people argue that if UNL became a wet
campus, there would be more cases of alcohol
poisoning because of the ease of availability of
alcohol: do you support UNL becoming a ‘wet’
campus?” 50% YES
• “Some people argue that if UNL became a wet
campus, there would be fewer cases of drunk
driving because people could drink close to
home: do you support UNL becoming a ‘wet’
campus?” 49% YES

22. Health Care
• 40% support "Obamacare”
• 40% support the Patient Protection and
Affordable Health Care Act

23. National Issues, Leaders, & Group
Favorability

24. On a scale from 1-7 how do you approve of:
(1=Strongly Disapprove/7=Strongly Approve)
7
6
5
4
Series1
3
2
1

25. Occupy Wall Street Supporter’s Yearly
Family Income

26. Tea Party Supporters Yearly Family
Income

27. A Comparison of Group Makeup
• Tea Party Supporters • Occupy Wall Street
Supporters

28. National Issues

29. Do you think that taxes should be
raised on the wealthiest Americans?

30. Do you think that taxes should be
raised on the wealthiest Americans?
Tea Party Supporters Occupy Wall Street Supporters

31. Who is most responsible for our economic
situation (Conservative views)

32. Who is most responsible for our
economic situation (Moderate views)

33. Who is most responsible for our current
economic situation (Liberal views)

34. 2012 Elections

35. 2012 Presidential Election
• 37% Obama
26% Don't know
7% Romney
7% Paul
5% Cain
3% Gingrich
3% Perry

36. Support of Ben Nelson Re-
Election, Nebraska Voters Only
• 47% yes
25% no
29% don't know

37. State GOP Senate Primary,
Nebraska Voters Only
• 56% None of the above
25% Jon Bruning
7% Deb Fischer
6% Don Stenberg
3% Spencer Zimmerman
2% Pat Flynn

38. Who do you prefer in the Republican
senate primary in Nebraska?
• Tea Party Supporters • Occupy Wall Street
Supporters

39. Party Affiliation of Ben Nelson
Supporters

40. Voting over four years
• Did you vote in 2008?
46% Yes
10 % No
44% Too Young
2010?
40% Yes
40% no
20% Too Young
83% plan to vote in 2012