SCSU Student Opinion on Social, Political, and Health Issues : 37th Annual Spring Student Survey

1. SCSU Student Opinion on Social, Political, and Health Issues : 37th Annual Spring Student Survey

2. Who We Are The SCSU Survey is an ongoing survey research extension of St. Cloud State University. The Survey’s faculty directors are: • Dr. Jim Cottrill – Political Science • Dr. Ann Finan – Sociology • Dr. Monica Garcia-Perez – Economics • Dr. Sandrine Zerbib – Sociology • Dr. Hemmesch-Breaker- Psychology

3. Student Directors Lead Director: • Landry Kabore-Political Science and International Relations. Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso Assistant Lead Director: • Elizabeth Pawelk-Anthropology. Lester Prairie, MN • Jack Spaeth-Spanish and Planning and Community Development. Montevideo, MN Student Directors: • Josefina Abdullah- Sociology. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. • Ansai Fatou Bio-Sawe-Sociology and Statistics. Cotonou, Benin. • Cedric Filiyaro- Political Science and International Relations. Saint Cloud, MN • Emily Herne- Applied Sociology. McHenry, IL. • Heather Blohm-Master’s Student in Industrial-Organizational Psychology. Verona, WI. • Charlotte Jacobson- Psychology, Melrose, MN

4. Statement of Methodology

5. Student Callers and Ethics • The callers came from the classes of Drs. Zerbib and Cottrill. • Everyone underwent a general training session. • Student callers signed a statement of ethics. • Student directors also signed a statement of ethics. • As part of ethics practices, students of the sample were notified via email one week before calling that they may be contacted by the Survey Center.

6. SCSU Survey Lab • The SCSU Survey operates a Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI) Lab on the St. Cloud State University campus. The CATI Lab is equipped with 19 interviewer stations. • The SCSU Survey is licensed to use Sawtooth Software’s Ci3 Questionnaire Authoring Version 6.0, a state-of-the-art windows-based computer-assisted interviewing package.

7. The Calling • The sample was obtained from David Kosel, Center for Information Systems. • Findings are based on telephone interviews with a representative sample of currently enrolled SCSU students. • Before calling began, the original sample was comprised of 2200 students, including 600 dorm residents and 1,600 off-campus residents. A second sample of 400 international students was drawn in March to correct an error in the original sample. • The sample was almost exclusively cell phones, with a small number of dorm phones. • Interviews were conducted from February 21st to February 27th, 2017, and on March 18th. • Calls were made at various times during the week (Monday through Thursday, 4:30pm to 9:30pm, on Saturday 11am to 4pm and on Sunday 4pm to 8pm) to maximize contacts and ensure equal opportunities to respond.

8. Demographics

9. Sample Error • 653 respondents completed the survey. • The margin of sampling error for the complete set of weighted data is ±2 percent at the 95 percent confidence level. • Then analysis is made of sub-samples such as respondent gender, dorm residence, etc., the sample error may be larger.

10. Cooperation and Response Rate • The cooperation rate for the survey was 79%. • The cooperation rate is determined by dividing the number of completed interviews (653), by the total of completed interviews, partial interviews, and refusals. • The overall response rate for the survey was 29%. • The response rate is determined by dividing the number of completed interviews (653), by the total of completed interviews, partial interviews, refusals, non-contacts, plus 90% of the cases with unknown eligibility.

11. Topics covered in the Survey • Government funded healthcare • Perception of media and media preference • Perception of Trump administration and job performance • Refugees and Immigration • Electoral college • Energy policy and type of town • Safety and belongingness on campus • Perception of the national economy • Service learning experiences • Stress management • Independent living skills

12. Students’ Attitudes Toward Syrian and Somali Refugees

13. Questions related to attitudes toward Syrian and Somali refugees • Do you support Minnesota welcoming Syrian refugees? • Do you support Minnesota welcoming Somali refugees?

16. Negative Attitudes toward Muslim Immigrants • Hypothesis: I predict that those who approve of the immigration ban will have a lower support toward Minnesota welcoming Syrian refugees. • There has been much negative focus on Islam and Muslims in public debates in the West in recent decades. • Muslims often receive negative attention in the mass media and public discourse and are simultaneously seen as the ethnic ‘other’ (Strabac, Aalberg, and Valenta 2014). • Integrated threat theory - conflict in worldviews (Ceballos, and Yakushko 2014).

18. Personal Contact with Immigrants • Hypothesis: I predict that International students will have a stronger support toward Minnesota welcoming Syrian refugees. • Contact theory suggests that personal interaction between members of different groups result in lower levels of prejudice and negative attitudes toward immigrants (Francois, and Magni-Berton 2013). • A meta-analysis based on over 200 studies of contact hypothesis in friendship, work and neighborhood arenas found that contact had beneficial effects in reducing prejudice (Ward, and Masgoret 2006).

20. Students’ Attitudes on Government Funded Healthcare

21. Should the Government provide Healthcare for everyone? • Hypothesis: I predict students who support the immigration ban will be less likely to support government funded health care. • Through longitudinal data from the Associated Press, Henderson and Hillygus show that there is a strong relationship between racial resentment and opposition to universal health care (2011). • Previous literature explains “attitudes about social groups are important determinants of Americans’ opinions about public policy matters” (Gollust and Lynch 2011: 1062).

24. Partisanship and Government Funded Healthcare • I hypothesize students that rate Trump’s performance as excellent will not support government funded healthcare • Supported by the Social Identity Theory. The us versus them mentality has great implications on public opinion and policy (Willen 2012).

26. Students’ Attitudes On Trump’s Overall Performance

27. National view on Trump performance A national survey by Pew Research Center on Trump’s overall performance: 39% approve 56% disapprove

28. Question related to Trump’s overall performance • How would you rate the overall performance of Donald Trump as President? Would you rate his performance as excellent , pretty good, only fair, or poor?

30. Hypothesis Trump’s performance by Sex. I predict that male are more likely to view Trump’s performance as Excellent or Good, while female are more likely to view his performance as Poor. According to BBC, 53% of men versus 42% of women voted for Trump. Trump often targets minority groups such as Women, LGBT, Immigrants...

31. N = 575

32. Hypothesis Trump’s performance by Race. I predict that White students are more likely to view Trump’s performance as Excellent or Good, while students of Color are more likely to view his performance as Poor. According to BBC, Trump gets 58% of White voters versus 8% of Black’s and 29% of Hispanics’ and Asian’s.

34. Students’ Views on the Trump Presidency and the Political Role of Place

36. Questions Related to the Political Role of Place Was the city or town you lived in while attending high school in an urban, suburban, or rural area? How would you rate the overall performance of Donald Trump as President? Would you rate his performance as excellent, pretty good, only fair, or poor?

37. The Political Role of Place Hypothesis: The further communities are from urban centers the more conservative the citizens of those communities will be Current literature is not developed for suburban and rural politics, though urban politics is a well developed field employed by politicians and social scientists Current literature supports hypothesis that urban communities will have more liberal citizens (do not support Trump) and suburban and rural having more conservative citizens (support Trump)

38. N=639

39. N=546

40. N=671

41. N=611

42. Conclusions • Hypothesis is supported by findings • Students from urban areas are much more likely to believe Trump is doing a worse job than those from suburban and rural areas • St. Cloud State students largely do not believe Trump is doing a good job • Students of color are much more likely to think Trump is doing a worse job than white students

43. Students’ views on the Presidential Election Process

44. Question related to electing the U.S. President • For electing the president, should the U.S. keep the Electoral College system or elect the national popular vote winner?

45. Presidential election process • A pattern has emerged over the past presidential elections in which younger age groups are more prone to vote Democratic and older age groups especially seniors age 65 and older are more prone to vote Republican • Many studies of legitimacy in democratic societies assess attitudes towards current institutions by examining levels of satisfaction with democracy or trust in governments • Findings show that people will support reform of presidential elections based on the interest of their state (long-term factors) and will change their opinions about reform based on electoral outcomes (short-term factors) • Scholars have found that those who lose under the existing rules will favor change, while the winners will favor the status quo (Anderson and LoTempio 2002; Banducci and Karp 2003; Bowler and Donovan 2007; Karp 2007; Tolbert, Smith, and Green 2009)

46. N = 636

47. N = 612

48. N = 637

49. N = 636

50. Students’ Feeling of Safety on Campus