Data restored from a 1981 Iowa Poll shows that Iowans broadly trusted the results of public opinion polls. These data come from Iowa Poll #248, a random sample survey of 1011 Iowans from April of 1981 which has been restored as part of a larger project to recover lost data from past Iowa polls.
Respondents were asked, “Generally, do you believe the results of the public opinion polls or not?” Respondents were given the choice to answer “yes, believe,” “no, don’t believe,” or “don’t know.” Iowans generally believed in the results of public opinion polls, with 64.7% answering “yes” and 26.6% saying “no” Trust in public opinion polling varies significantly based on sex. Male respondents were much less likely to believe the results of public opinion polls (59.9%) than female respondents (69.1%). Conversely, 30.8% of men mistrusted poll results, compared to 22.7% of women. Trust was more stable across respondents’ political affiliation: Republicans trusted opinion polls the most (67.5%), followed by Independents (65.2%) and Democrats (62.2%).
Additionally, when asked if any family member, including the respondents, were part of a union, those answering “yes” believed in the results of opinion polls 11.6% more than those without any union connection. Union members or relatives of union members responded with 73.9% trusting opinion poll results, while those without said connection only had 62.2% responding that they trust in polls.
Iowa Poll #248, conducted by the Des Moines Register, was administered to a random sample of Iowans in April 1981. In addition to the questions about public opinion polls, the survey asked respondents their opinions on a wide variety of topics, including the recent assassination attempt on President Reagan, personal finances, school spending, smoking habits, and handgun control. Understanding Iowans’ past opinions on these topics can help us understand how perspectives have changed and what ideas have remained popular. IPOL has also been working with UI Libraries and the Des Moines Register to restore data from dozens of Iowa Polls from the 1960s to early 1980s. More information about the project can be found here. We are working to release a full report on our findings as we analyze additional questions.