Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Attitudes Towards Immigration In The United States, Tianna M. Martinez

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

The topic of immigration in the United States has been one of great contention for U.S citizens over the past year. Despite being a country built on immigrants, it seems that public attitudes towards the issue are changing. It is hard to pinpoint an exact reason for this change in opinion as there are so many factors playing a role. This paper will examine quantitative research data provided by the American National Election Survey to assess different factors that are actively playing a role in altering the public’s overall opinion on immigration levels. The data examined reveals how age, feeling …

Gun Control And Public Opinion, Jessica J. Nicholas

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

With over 49,000 violent incidents involving firearms occurring in 2015, legislation regarding the availability of guns is an extremely critical issue. Using the American National Election Study’s 2012 Time Series Study, this research considers the results of this survey, specifically whether certain demographics of respondents are more likely to believe the federal government should make laws on gun purchases more stringent. The independent variables of party identification, gender, and age are tested in relation to respondents’ opinions on gun control laws. Bivariate analysis finds that demographics of Americans identifying as Democrats, female, and sixty years or older are the most …

Beyond Survey Self-Reports: Using Physiology To Tap Political Orientations, Michael W. Wagner, Kristen D. Deppe, Carly M. Jacobs, Amanda Friesen, Kevin B. Smith, John R. Hibbing

Political Science Publications

Some aspects of our attitudes are composed of things outside of our consciousness. However, traditional survey research does not use measurements that are able to tap into these aspects of public opinion. We describe, recommend, and demonstrate a procedure by which non-self-reported responses can be measured in order to test whether these responses have independent effects on individuals’ preferences. We use one of the better-known physiological measures—electrodermal activity or skin conductance—and illustrate its potential by reporting our own study of attitudes toward President Barack Obama. We find that both self-reported emotional responses and physiological responses to Obama’s image independently correlate …

Perceptions Of Immigration In America, Manuel Cardoza

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Throughout history the United States as a nation saw many waves of immigrants who collectively shaped and helped build the America we see today. Today immigration has become a prevalent issue that is impeding progress and potentially facilitating the rise of new conflicts in a country plagued by civil injustices toward minority groups who are feeling marginalized and discriminated. Immigration desperately needs the attention of the U.S government in order to reach a solution and stop a community from being ostracized. Much of this great nation has been formed and built on the fundamental idea of immigrant forces coming together …

Judicial Activism’S Effect On Judicial Elections, Nick Fernandes

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

High profile Supreme Court cases have become increasingly commonplace, particularly with the Citizens United court decision granting unprecedented rights to corporations. Many in the media have decried these as examples of increasing “judicial activism”. This trend has trickled down to the state supreme courts as justices have increasingly played a more active role in developing policy. Gay marriage has become legalized in numerous states due to this trend. While public sentiment is unlikely to affect the appointed Supreme Court, it could have a substantial impact on state judicial elections.

This paper will specifically be looking at judicial elections in Kentucky. …

Crime Media, Punitiveness, And Fear, Robert Roussel

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

This paper focuses on public opinion of crime salience and punitive attitudes, looking specifically at how crime-news consumption affects such attitudes. Sensationalized local TV news has become heavily focused on crime and accidents in recent decades, and many researchers claim that heavy consumption of local crime news lead one to overestimate crime rates. Not only do people perceive that there is more crime, but they often feel a personal threat to their safety, and consequently advocate more severe criminal justice policies. Even if it does lead people to erroneous beliefs, the quasi-sanctity of freedom of the press in the U.S. …

Opinions On Gun Control: Evidence From An Experimental Web Survey, Mallory Treece

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

While a sizable literature exists on framing, little research extends this to gun control. In this study I analyze how partisan framing influences support for gun control. Using an experimental web survey, individual level data shows that Democrats in particular respond more favorably when gun control is framed as sponsored by fellow Democrats. In contrast, controlling for partisanship, gun owners more negatively react to gun control framed as Democrat-sponsored. These findings suggest the extent of support for gun control and ways in which parties can frame the issue in their favor.

Love Thy Neighbor? Trust In Foreigners And Support For Transnational Policies, Sergio Wals, Elizabeth Theiss-Morse, Frank J. Gonzalez, Tess Gosda

Department of Political Science: Faculty Publications

This study assesses the extent to which individual levels of trust in foreigners relate to preferences about regional transnational policies. We use a nationally representative survey from Mexico (2003), an emerging democracy with relatively high levels of nationalism and several multinational trade agreements. We argue that clarifying the target of social trust is essential for understanding the attitudes of citizens of less powerful countries toward the international policy realm. Statistical analysis strongly suggests that in fact trust in foreigners, above generalized trust, is key to understanding such attitudes. Our results indicate that trust in foreigners among Mexican respondents is positively …

Prospects For Campaign Finance Reform: The Role Of Policy Narratives, Cultural Predispositions, And Political Knowledge In Collective Policy Preference Formation, Paul D. Jorgensen, Michael D. Jones, Geoboo Song

Political Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Objective: Although campaign finance is a growing concern, pollsters rarely ask the public about reform. We use the variation in public support for campaign finance reform to determine factors important to collective policy preference formation.

Methods: Using a national survey, we factor analyze the latent dimensions of various reforms, and rely on an experimental design to explain the role cultural theory, policy narratives, and political knowledge plays in preference formation.

Results: The reform debate groups along two dimensions: adding or removing limitations, or ending the dependence on money altogether. We show policy narratives are most influential, and cultural theory has …