State of the First Amendment Survey, 2004

DOI

10.17605/OSF.IO/Y92AX

Summary

The State of the First Amendment Survey, conducted annually (since 1997, except for 1998) for the First Amendment Center by the Center for Survey Research and Analysis at the University of Connecticut, examines public attitudes toward the freedoms of speech, press, and religion and the rights of assembly and petition. Core questions, asked each year, include awareness of First Amendment freedoms, overall assessments of whether there is too much or too little freedom of speech, press, and religion in the United States, levels of tolerance for various types of public expression (such as flag-burning and singing songs with potentially offensive lyrics), levels of tolerance for various journalistic behaviors, attitudes toward prayer in schools, and level of support for amending the Constitution to prohibit flag-burning or defacement. Additional (non-core) questions asked in the 2004 survey include attitudes about the effort to amend the Constitution to ban flag-burning, proposals to expand regulation of so-called indecent material in the media, attempts by government officials and private advocates to lower the "wall of separation between church and state," and scandals involving made-up stories and facts at major news organizations.

The ARDA has added six additional variables to the original data set to enhance the users' experience on our site.

Data File

Cases: 1002
Variables: 70
Weight Variable: WEIGHT

Data Collection

May 6 - June 6, 2004

Funded By

The Freedom Forum
American Journalism Review

Collection Procedures

Computer-aided telephone interview surveys.

Sampling Procedures

A total of 1,002 telephone interviews were conducted with a nationally representative sample of non-institutionalized adults in the United States by the Center for Survey Research and Analysis at the University of Connecticut. These interviews took place on weekday evenings, on Saturday mornings and afternoons, and on Sunday afternoon and evenings.

Principal Investigators

Center for Survey Research and Analysis, University of Connecticut and the First Amendment Center