Recently reconstituted data from 1981 reveal that 44% of Iowans would eliminate at least one of the Ten Commandments. The top three chosen were “thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s goods” with 9%, and “remember the sabbath day to keep it holy” with 9%, and “though shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain” with 8%. These results come from IPOL’s efforts to recover lost data from historical Iowa Polls, starting with Iowa Poll #249, a random sample survey of 1021 Iowans from October 1981.

Recently reconstituted data from 1981 reveal that Iowans had doubts about their own knowledge of Iowa history and were split on which features of Iowa history should be covered in school. These results come from IPOL’s efforts to recover lost data from historical Iowa Polls, starting with Iowa Poll #249, a random sample survey of 1021 Iowans from October 1981.

Recently reconstituted data from 1981 show that Iowans strongly support some items, such as unreasonable search and equality for the sexes, being protected in the United States constitution whereas others, such as the right for life to begin at fertilization, should not. These results come from IPOL’s efforts to recover lost data from historical Iowa Polls, starting with Iowa Poll #249, a random sample survey of 1021 Iowans from October 1981.

Starting in fall 2022, IPOL has been working to enter and analyze data from some recently unearthed Iowa Polls from the 1940s through the 1980s. These were discovered in the archives of Tom Mans, a 1981 UI PhD in Political Science. The Iowa Polls were conducted by the Des Moines Register. In fall 2022 IPOL worked to digitize an entire survey from scans of the printouts. This semester we have begun to analyze the questions, including sets relating to race, constitutional rights, teaching Iowa history, and the Iowa Caucuses. Keep an eye out for our report.

According to a recent Iowa Policy and Opinion Lab Poll, a plurality of Iowans (45.3%) said they would support a proposed pro-gun amendment to the Iowa Constitution while 28.9% of Iowans answered that they would vote against it. The Iowa legislature passed the proposed state constitutional amendment for a second time in 2021, meaning it could appear on the general election ballot in November 2022. Differences in support for the proposed amendment were found based on respondent party identification and urbanicity.

A recent Iowa Policy and Opinion Lab (IPOL) survey conducted by University of Iowa faculty and students found that Iowans trust school officials and parents more than state or local elected officials to make decisions about banning books in public schools. Opinions on who is best situated to make these decisions varied with a respondent's party affiliation and the importance of religion to them.

A team of IPOLers recently presented their research in a poster session as part of the 79th Annual Midwest Political Science Association Conference. Interested in the BLM’s influence on public opinion, Sam Avery, Marissa Good, and Thomas Dainty have participated in the Black Lives Matter protest research as a spin-off project of IPOL since the summer of 2021 under the guidance of Professor Boehmke.

Congratulations to Alex Hefel on receiving 2022-2023 Laurence Fairall Scholarship. This scholarship is awarded to undergraduate and master's professional students who intend to have active careers in journalism.

Congratulations to Caleb Slater on receiving 2022-2023 Teri G. Rasmussen Scholarship. This scholarship is awarded to an undergraduate political science major who intends to pursue a career in law.

A recent Iowa Policy and Opinion Lab (IPOL) survey conducted by University of Iowa faculty and students found that a majority of Iowans support multiple racial justice policing and sentencing reforms, but fewer than half of Iowans support increased penalties for protestors and cities.