Presentation reveals survey results

Jesse Johnson, Editor-in-Chief

The Center for the Study of Local Issues gave a presentation of the results of the Spring 2017 survey April 19.

The CSLI, headed by Dr. Dan Nataf, conducts a survey every semester to gauge the county’s views on political and social factors in the nation and in the state. This semester, the survey focused on themes like presidential job approval and what an accurate news source is.

The survey was conducted by student interviewers, and the center received 521 completions over five days of phone interviews.

According to the survey, 36.5% of county residents do not approve of Donald Trump’s presidential job duties. A poll conducted by data website Gallup found that as a nation, only 35% of U.S. citizens approve of Trump’s job.

“We went down quite a bit, reaching the lowest level of presidential job approval, at least for the Gallup poll, since Bush was in power in the Fall of ’08,” Nataf said.

The survey also found that Fox News and CNN are the leading news sources that produce both “fake news” and accurate news. However, 10% of residents said The Washington Post publishes accurate news, and according to Nataf, it is the closest news source to the “truth.”

Students and faculty who would like to know the full results of the survey can visit the CSLI in CRSC 132. Students can also volunteer to participate in upcoming surveys at the same location.