“polar poll” 2016 administered by professor michael franz and students …€¦ · administered...
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“Polar Poll” 2016 Administered by Professor Michael Franz and students in Gov 2080 (Quantitative Analysis of Political Science) Last Modified: 03/17/2016
NOTE: This poll is based on 358 completed surveys of a random selection of Bowdoin students between March 7 and March 17, 2016. An initial sample of 475 enrolled Bowdoin students received the survey. The survey was distributed via email using the Qualtrics software system. Results are not weighted. In a sample of this size, one can say with a 95 percent certainty that the results have a statistical precision of plus or minus 5.2 percent of what they would have been had the entire Bowdoin student population been surveyed.
1. What year are you?
# Answer
Response % 1 First-year
90 25% 2 Sophomore
94 26% 3 Junior
81 23% 4 Senior
91 26% Total 356 100%
2. What is your gender identity? This was an open-ended question, to allow for student self-expression. Raw answers are omitted to preserve anonymity. Based on coding, self-identified male and female respondents are as follows.
# Answer
Response % 1 Female
151 48.7% 2 Male
159 51.3% Total 310 100%
3. Generally speaking, on a scale of 0-100, with 0 being very liberal and 100 being very conservative, where would you place:
# Answer Min Value Max Value
Average Value
Standard Deviation Responses
1 Your own political views
0.00 100.00 36.28 25.96 302
2
The political views of the average Bowdoin student
0.00 100.00 29.87 20.95 306
4. How do you react to this statement? Bowdoin College should do what it takes to protect the campus from cyber attacks and limit the vulnerability of students' confidential information.
# Answer
Response %
1 Strongly agree
92 26%
2 Strongly Disagree
5 1%
3 Agree
183 52%
4
Neither Agree nor Disagree
53 15%
5 Disagree
18 5% Total 351 100%
5. As you may be aware, Bowdoin IT recently announced a new tool to protect the Bowdoin network. The new tool scans e-mail messages for text that
includes passwords, social security numbers, and credit card numbers. It also monitors all websites being accessed from the Bowdoin network and categorizes them by risk. Websites known to be high-risk—including pornography and gambling sites—are flagged. Do you believe that this new tool is appropriate?
# Answer
Response %
1 Yes
110 31%
2 No
158 45%
3 I have no opinion on the topic.
82 23%
Total 350 100% For questions 6 and 7, only one of the below was asked of each respondent. Half received question 6, while a random half received question 7. The only difference between each question is that question 7 includes a list of 10 skills.
6. Last year Bowdoin offered an accounting class in association with the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. There have also been Excel modeling workshops and, most recently, a Hackathon to encourage technical thinking. Do you think Bowdoin should prioritize offering more technical courses to encourage skill development?
# Answer
Response % 1 No
17 10% 2 Yes
101 60%
3 I have no opinion
49 29%
Total 167 100%
7. Last year Bowdoin offered an accounting class in association with the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. There have also been Excel modeling workshops and, most recently, a Hackathon to encourage technical thinking. Below are some of the most sought after skills in the current job market (according to LinkedIn): 1 Mac, Linux and Unix systems 2 Statistical Analysis and Data Mining 3 Microsoft application development 4 Perl/Python/Ruby 5 Data engineering and data warehousing 6 Mobile Development 7 Network and Information Security 8 Computer graphics and animation 9 Web Architecture 10 User Interface Design Do you think Bowdoin should prioritize offering more technical courses to encourage skill development?
# Answer
Response % 1 Yes
120 66% 2 No
30 16%
3 I have no opinion
33 18%
Total 183 100% Question 8 is a closed-ended question asked of half the sample.
8. What do you think is the greatest point of division among students on campus? By this, we mean the issue that most polarizes students.
# Answer
Response % 1 Race
50 30% 2 Gender
0 0% 3 Political party affiliation
4 2% 4 Athletes/non-Athletes
47 29%
5 The "Culture" of political dialogue
44 27%
6 other
5 3%
7 Socioeconomic background
14 9%
8 Sexuality
0 0% 9 Social House
0 0%
10 Humanities/STEM Majors
0 0%
Total 164 100%
9. What do you think is the greatest point of division among students on campus? By this, we mean the issue that most polarizes students. Open-ended version of question asked of half the sample. Responses omitted to preserve anonymity.
10. We want to ask about your perspective on a number of recent events. Of the below, rate them as follows: A score of 100 is something you find to find to be completely unacceptable and inappropriate. A score of 0 would be something completely acceptable and appropriate.
# Answer Min Value
Max Value
Average Value
Standard Deviation Responses
1 Cracksgiving 0.00 100.00 73.75 27.53 323
2
Anonymous Yik Yak posts that criticize students
0.00 100.00 67.72 31.43 320
3 The Gangster party 0.00 100.00 73.40 26.52 332
4 The Tequila party 0.00 100.00 48.68 33.55 326
5
Posts on public sites like Barstool and Turtleboysports that criticize students
0.00 100.00 73.40 31.16 329
6
The pending impeachment of two BSG members for attending the Tequila party
0.00 100.00 60.75 36.15 321
11. What racial or ethnic background do you most identify with?
# Answer
Response %
1 White
227 72%
2
African-American, or of African descent
12 4%
3 Hispanic
22 7%
4 Asian
23 7%
5
American Indian or Alaska Native
1 0%
6 Bi-racial
31 10% Total 316 100%
12. What is your national citizenship? # Answer
Response %
1 American citizen
274 86%
2
American citizen with dual citizenship in another country
26 8%
3 Citizen of another country
17 5%
Total 317 100%
13. Do you receive financial aid? # Answer
Response % 1 Yes
137 43% 2 No
178 57% Total 315 100%
14. What is your major, or are you undeclared? This was an open-ended question. Raw answers are omitted to preserve anonymity. Majors with fewer than 5 responses omitted from summary table below. Percentages can add to more than 100 because of double-majoring.
Major
Frequency
Percent
Percent of declared students
Undeclared 71 22.61%
Government and Legal Studies 47 14.97% 19.34% Economics 36 11.46% 14.81% Biology 25 7.96% 10.29% Environmental Studies 21 6.69% 8.64% Neuroscience 21 6.69% 8.64% History 20 6.37% 8.23% Mathematics 20 6.37% 8.23% Earth and Oceanographic Science 13 4.14% 5.35% Physics 11 3.50% 4.53% Biochemistry 10 3.18% 4.12% English 10 3.18% 4.12% Chemistry 8 2.55% 3.29% Computer Science 8 2.55% 3.29% Psychology 8 2.55% 3.29% Sociology 7 2.23% 2.88% Anthropology 6 1.91% 2.47% Spanish 6 1.91% 2.47% Visual Arts 6 1.91% 2.47% Gender and Women's Studies 5 1.59% 2.06%
15. What state or country are you from? This was an open-ended question. Raw answers are omitted to preserve anonymity. States or countries with fewer than 5 responses omitted from summary table below. State/country Frequency Percent
Massachusetts 42 14.53% New York 35 12.11% Connecticut 21 7.27% Maine 21 7.27% California 19 6.57% New Jersey 16 5.54% Illinois 9 3.11% Minnesota 8 2.77% Pennsylvania 8 2.77% Texas 8 2.77% Florida 7 2.42% New Hampshire 7 2.42% Ohio 7 2.42% Vermont 7 2.42% Washington State 7 2.42% Canada 6 2.08% Maryland 6 2.08% 35 other states and countries 55 19.03%
16. Are you currently... # Answer
Response %
1 On campus taking classes
331 93%
2 Studying abroad
24 7%
3 On a temporary leave from the College
0 0%
Total 355 100%
17. Have you ever posted something on Yik Yak? # Answer
Response %
1
Yes, somewhat frequently (i.e., about once a week)
24 7%
2 No, but I have up and down-voted comments
62 17%
3 Yes, but infrequently
181 51%
4 No
89 25% Total 356 100%
18. College presidents have many important responsibilities. Rank the options below in what you believe should be the order of importance for a College president. Drag the most important item to the top of the list and move the remaining ones in order after that.
# Answer 1
(top priority)
2 3 4 5 Total Responses
1 Fund-raising 64 72 70 104 10 320
2 Increasing student and faculty diversity
36 78 96 93 17 320
3 Overseeing academics
133 74 47 60 6 320
4 Encouraging lively dialogue
76 93 91 51 9 320
5
Other (add here and include in your ranking) (Leave blank and rank 5th if you have nothing to add)
11 3 16 12 278 320
Total 320 320 320 320 320 -
Statistic Fund-raising
Increasing student and
faculty diversity
Overseeing academics
Encouraging lively
dialogue
Other (add here and include in
your ranking) (Leave
blank and rank 5th if you have nothing to
add) Min Value 1 1 1 1 1 Max Value 5 5 5 5 5 Mean 2.76 2.93 2.16 2.45 4.70 Variance 1.42 1.20 1.46 1.21 0.78 Standard Deviation 1.19 1.09 1.21 1.10 0.88
Total Responses 320 320 320 320 320
19. How satisfied are you with the dating scene at Bowdoin? By dating scene, we mean the chance to start meaningful romantic relationships.
# Answer
Response %
1
I don't have enough information to say either way.
28 8%
2 Satisfied
64 18%
3 Somewhat satisfied
86 25%
4 Somewhat dissatisfied
90 26%
5 Dissatisfied
79 23% Total 347 100%
20. What, if anything, would you change about the dating scene here at Bowdoin? Open-ended question. Responses omitted to preserve anonymity.
21. From your own personal point of view, which of these options would you prefer?
# Answer
Response %
1
Colleges and universities should eliminate affirmative action policies on admissions
28 9%
2
Colleges and universities should enhance affirmative action policies to insure full representation in the student body
77 24%
3 Colleges and universities should try to work out a compromise of the above options
212 67%
Total 317 100% For questions 22a and 22b, only one of the below was asked of each respondent. Half received question 22a, while a random half received question 22b. The only difference between each question is the noted source of the quote: either a Republican congressman or a Bowdoin student.
22a. We'd like your opinion of the following argument recently made by a Republican congressman on the issue of affirmative action in college admissions. "We live in a political environment where the intent of a policy aimed at helping minorities is all that seems to matter; questioning the policy’s actual effectiveness is tantamount to racism. Our national debates about racial preferences tend to focus on their legality, not whether they work as intended. Yet both are important. An analysis of black students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the mid-1980s found that they had scored in the top 10% nationally on the math
portion of the SAT but in the bottom 10% among their classmates at MIT. As a result, black students were dropping out at much higher rates, and those who didn’t leave typically received lower grades than their white and Asian classmates. In a misguided effort to obtain some predetermined racial mix on campus, affirmative action had turned some of the smartest kids in the country into failures. After racial preferences were banned in the University of California system in 1996, black enrollment at higher-ranked UCLA and Berkeley fell, but black academic outcomes improved." In trying to form the most accurate opinion possible on the issue of affirmative action, do you think it is worth taking the previous argument into consideration?
# Answer
Response % 1 Yes
79 54% 2 No
22 15% 3 Not sure
46 31% Total 147 100%
22b. We'd like your opinion of the following argument recently made by a Bowdoin student in the Orient on the issue of affirmative action in college admissions. "We live in a political environment where the intent of a policy aimed at helping minorities is all that seems to matter; questioning the policy’s actual effectiveness is tantamount to racism. Our national debates about racial preferences tend to focus on their legality, not whether they work as intended. Yet both are important. An analysis of black students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the mid-1980s found that they had scored in the top 10% nationally on the math
portion of the SAT but in the bottom 10% among their classmates at MIT. As a result, black students were dropping out at much higher rates, and those who didn’t leave typically received lower grades than their white and Asian classmates. In a misguided effort to obtain some predetermined racial mix on campus, affirmative action had turned some of the smartest kids in the country into failures. After racial preferences were banned in the University of California system in 1996, black enrollment at higher-ranked UCLA and Berkeley fell, but black academic outcomes improved." In trying to form the most accurate opinion possible on the issue of affirmative action, do you think it is worth taking the previous argument into consideration?
# Answer
Response % 1 Yes
115 66.5% 2 No
20 11.6% 3 Not sure
38 22% Total 173
23. Next, choose any number between 0 and 100. The higher the number, the warmer or more favorable you feel towards the items below; the lower the number, the colder or less favorable. You would rate the item at the 50-degree mark if you feel neither warm nor cold toward them.
# Answer Min Value
Max Value
Average Value
Standard Deviation Responses
1 Career Planning Center
0.00 100.00 61.17 23.77 283
2
Bowdoin Student Government (BSG)
0.00 100.00 44.31 25.88 274
3 Clayton Rose 0.00 100.00 66.59 24.16 293
4 The Orient 0.00 100.00 55.80 26.17 295
5 The Democratic Party
0.00 100.00 64.46 24.97 303
6 The Republican Party 0.00 100.00 27.95 26.43 288
24. Click the place on the map that is your favorite place on campus.
Statistic Value Total Responses 305
25. Ladd and Reed House recently collaborated on an event titled "Why do the College Houses feel so white?" Several students of color expressed the opinion that the College Houses are predominately white spaces and expressed dissatisfaction with the
College House culture. Given that discussion, what changes to our residential life system would you recommend?
# Answer
Response %
1
Relocate the College Houses into spaces that are not home to the legacy of a majority-white Greek System
2 1%
2
Increase and encourage programming in the College Houses surrounding issues of diversity and inclusivity
106 32%
3 I don't know
23 7%
4 Other
39 12%
5 Emphasize or prioritize student diversity in applications
62 19%
6 Transition to theme-based housing
16 5%
7 Nothing, I think the College House System works well as is
80 24%
Total 328 100%
26. How do you evaluate this statement? I feel safe expressing my political views on Bowdoin's campus.
# Answer
Response %
1 Strongly agree
52 16%
2
Neither agree nor disagree
47 15%
3 Disagree
63 20%
4 Strongly disagree
39 12%
5 Agree
118 37% Total 319 100%