Salt of the Earth: It's how you ask, not who you ask

Social justice news
May 2001

It's how you ask, not who you ask
The debate over debt relief continues
T-shirt company capitalizes on domestic violence, attracts protests
An interreligious campaign uses faith to fight for the environment
Taking on the Marlboro Man
Summit of the Americas ends with plans for free trade

It's how you ask, not who you ask
If you want to know what Americans think of death penalty moratoriums just ask them. But be careful how you do it. A recent Gallup poll reveals that how questions about death penalty issues are phrased can have a significant impact on how people respond.

Public support for a temporary halt on executions, like the one Governor George Ryan initiated in Illinois in 2000, ranged from 53 percent to 42 percent depending on how Gallup officials presented the idea. In the first case, they asked a random selection of adults:

"As you may know, Illinois has instituted a moratorium, or temporary halt, on the use of the death penalty until it can be determined if the death penalty is being administered accurately and fairly in that state. Would you say you favor or oppose such a moratorium on the death penalty in all other states with the death penalty?"

Fifty-three percent of the respondents said they would favor a moratorium while 40 percent opposed one. The question offered an argument for a halt without presenting a counter-argument however. Polltakers asked a slightly different question of a second group of Americans:

"Which comes closer to your view: there should be a moratorium, or temporary halt, on the death penalty until it can be better determined if the death penalty is being administered accurately and fairly in this country, or there should not be a moratorium, or temporary halt, on the death penalty because there are already sufficient safeguards in the current justice system to prevent the execution of innocent people?" (Gallup officials rotated the order in which they presented the two arguments.)

Based on this question, only 42 percent supported a moratorium and 55 percent opposed one. According to the Gallup report, the difference in results suggests, "while a majority may support the idea of a moratorium on the death penalty at first glance, that support can be lowered considerably if strong arguments against such a moratorium are effectively carried to the people."

Similarly, a February Gallup poll found that Americans are more likely to oppose the death penalty if life imprisonment without parole is also an option. In the February survey, 67 percent favored the death penalty for convicted murderers and 25 percent opposed it, but when a life sentence without the possibility of parole was presented as an alternative, 54 percent said they supported the death penalty while 42 percent favored life imprisonment.

The moratorium survey results were based on March telephone interviews with 1,024 adults 18 or older. The February death penalty poll was based on telephone interviews with 1,016 adults. Gallup says it is 95 percent confident the maximum error of both surveys is plus or minus 3 percentage points.—Anne Graber

Back to page top