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Public and Elite Opinion about Population Issues
A principal goal of the Population Matters program is to inform public and elite audiences about findings of demographic research and their implications for policy. Two key audiences for our work are the U.S. Congress and the American public. We surveyed groups from both audiences in order to identify information gaps and misperceptions in their understanding of population issues and to determine which of these could be filled effectively by research-based information.
- We conducted in-depth, elite interviews with 19 legislative directors from the offices of key Senators and Representatives identified as swing voters on foreign assistance and population-related issues. We were especially interested in how these key swing voters reach decisions on these issues, what their attitudes are, and how information reaches them.
- We also conducted surveys in 1998 and 2003 of nationally representative samples of Americans, asking about their attitudes about U.S. economic assistance overseas; knowledge of global population trends; and views on specific issues, including family planning and abortion. We have examined changes in American opinion about family planning between these two years.
See publications on this topic.
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