MTSUPoll

 

Economic: Politics, not income, predicts economic worry

• Politics predicts national economic worry, but age, income predict real suffering.
• Tennesseans want the state to be generous to students, the needy.
• National-mood barometer drops since 2009 polls, political polarization extreme.
• No. 1 national problem still the economy, returning to level a year ago.
• State-mood barometer stable, much higher than national mood.
• Economy No. 1 state problem but below national level

National: Majority of Tennesseans now disapprove of Obama

• Support for president continues to decline, still at 42 percent.
• Confidence in Obama administration mixed: little in economy, higher in ethics.
• Neither Republicans or Obama doing enough to work together.
• Tennesseans approve of Obama response to Haiti earthquake.
• Most want complete do-over on health reform.
• Iraq a mistake that is going well, Afghanistan right choice with mixed results.

State: Few know who's running for governor or belong to Tea Party

• What? There's a governor's race going on? Who?
• Tea Party has high profile, moderate favorability, low membership in Tennessee
• Bredesen still popular heading into final year as governor.
• Approval of state Legislature remains low but steady.

For our press release on national and state issues, click here.  For our press release on the economy, click here. To learn about the accuracy of the MTSU Poll in elections, click here.

The MTSU Poll's mission is to provide independent, non-partisan, and unbiased public opinion data regarding major social, political, and ethical issues affecting Tennessee.

Surveys are conducted twice yearly under the direction of faculty specialists in public opinion research in accordance with scientifically validated polling standards. Students serve as poll interviewers as an integral part of their training in mass communication.

The poll's directors welcome suggestions about issues and topics from any individual or group. The poll's directors are, however, charged to select, formulate, and interpret results independent of outside interests.

The poll fulfills the major goals of Middle Tennessee State University in that it provides an opportunity for student- and faculty- centered research in partnership with the citizens of Tennessee and the news media that serve them.

Sponsored by the Office of Communication Research at Middle Tennessee State University's College of Mass Communication, the poll tracks attitudes regarding free expression, faith in major institutions, and a wide range of public issues.

The poll is supported by MTSU's Office of Communication Research, College of Mass Communication, and School of Journalism.

• Students wishing to register for an MTSU Poll session may click click here to access the online registration system. Additional information for students is available here.
• The polling lab is in BAS S302. To learn how to find the polling lab and what to expect when you get, go to: http://www.mtsu.edu/~commres/findlab.htm.
• MTSU faculty using the MTSU Poll in their classes will find helpful material at: www.mtsu.edu/~commres/271/271.htm. A password is required.

NOTE: Data files may be downloaded and analyzed with these restrictions: Researchers wishing to make academic or scientific use of these data must request and obtain permission in writing from the Director of the Office of Communication Research prior to presentation or publication. For general descriptive use, we ask only that the Middle Tennessee Poll at Middle Tennessee State University be cited as the source of the data.