NEWS OF SOCIOLOGICAL INTEREST

REPORT ON CATHOLIC OPINION SURVEY II

The following summary report on the results of Survey II, conducted by the Catholic Opinion Study Committee of the Department of Sociology, the Catholic University of America, is presented here in response to frequent requests by cooperators in the project and other members of the Society. The data given below are based upon a total of 4105 tabulated opinionnaires. The basic procedures employed in obtaining these opinion returns were as follows: the Committee secured the cooperation of thirtyeight interested professional people, sociology teachers in Catholic colleges for the most part, in different parts of the country. These in turn administered the opinionnaire to individuals or groups of their own choosing. Cooperators frequently selected their college students for study, yet there is a fair representation of other Catholic groups such as parish societies, college alumnae, fraternal and workingmen's organizations. Potential respondents were polled either by mail or by personal contact; in most cases the opinionnaire was group-administered to some specific audience. In this way returns were obtained from eighteen states and the District of Columbia, representing each of the major regions except the South Atlantic and Mountain States. It is hardly necessary to add that, in view of the limitations imposed by the unsystematic selection of respondents, the resulting sample is purely accidental and cannot be taken as representative of any definable universe. Further details on the nature of the survey, procedures employed, names of collaborators, etc., can be obtained from the mimeographed report entitled, “Preliminary Report on Survey II" (Publication No. S-1).

The first section of the present report is devoted to a general description of respondents from the background information supplied on the tabulated questionnaires; the second section summarizes respondents' opinions on specific poll questions.

RESPONDENTS

The universe was composed of 4105 respondents. Most of these were white, Catholic students or housewives who were less than thirty years of age and the majority of the participants lived in urban communities. The educational level of the group was high. Most of the participants had at least a high school education.

Of those who gave the requested background information, two out of three (66.9 per cent) were females. Approximately three out of five (60.7 per cent) were less than thirty years of age. All were Catholics. Students (42.5 per cent) and housewives (20.9 per cent) were the two largest occupational groups with "clerical" (13.1 per cent), third. Two out of three (60.8 per cent) indicated some college education and an additional 24.6 per cent said that they had some high school education. Nine out of ten (91.2

per cent) of the respondents attended Catholic schools but only approximately four out of ten (36.8 per cent) had all Catholic schooling. Most of the participants were urban dwellers. Sixty-six and nine-tenths per cent of the respondents indicated that they lived in communities with a population of over 100,000. Only one out of ten (11.4 per cent) mentioned union membership. Thirty-eight per cent of the sample was composed of Veterans of World War II and 4.9 per cent were Veterans of World War I. There was only one person who was a veteran of both World Wars.

RESPONSES

1. WHICH OF THESE STATEMENTS DO YOU MOST AGREE WITH?

The most important job for the government is to make it certain that there are good opportunities for each person to get ahead on his own.

60.3% agree

The most important job for the government is to guarantee every person a decent and steady job and standard of living.

3.3% no answer

36.4% agree

2. WOULD YOU AGREE THAT EVERYBODY WOULD BE HAPPIER, MORE SECURE AND MORE PROSPEROUS IF WORKING PEOPLE WERE GIVEN MORE POWER AND INFLUENCE IN GOVERNMENT, OR WOULD YOU SAY THAT WE WOULD ALL BE BETTER OFF IF THE WORKING PEOPLE HAD NO MORE POWER THAN THEY HAVE NOW?

3. IN SOME PLACES THE GOVERNMENT OWNS AND OPERATES UTILITIES, SUCH AS ELECTRIC LIGHT AND POWER, STREET RAILWAYS, AND SIMILAR FACILITIES. SHOW WHAT YOU THINK OF THIS BY ANSWERING THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS:

4. PLACE A CROSS (X) BEFORE THOSE STATEMENTS BELOW WITH WHICH YOU AGREE, AND A ZERO (0) BEFORE THOSE WITH WHICH YOU DO NOT AGREE

(a) The government ought not to 32.0 be concerned with the religious education of our boys and girls.

(b) Catholics should be glad that the government allows them to run their own parochial schools, and should not expect any further aid.

(c) There are so many religious groups in our country that the government should forbid religious instruction in public schools in order to avoid conflicts.

(d) Government should make provision for regular instruction during school hours for children attending public schools.

(e) The ideal arrangement would be for Catholic children to be supported by the government in Catholic schools.

22.7

54.9

20.9

55.2

5. SUPPOSE A FAMILY HAS A FATHER, MOTHER, AND THREE CHILDREN, AGED 11, 16 AND 19. IT HAS SOME EXTRA MONEY AND IS DEBATING WHETHER TO BUY A NEW RADIO OR TELEVISION SET OR TO SAVE THE MONEY. PLACE A CROSS (X) BEFORE THOSE STATEMENTS WITH WHICH YOU AGREE, AND A ZERO (0) BEFORE THOSE WITH WHICH YOU DO NOT AGREE.

6. PLACE A CROSS (X) BEFORE THOSE STATEMENTS BELOW WITH WHICH YOU AGREE, AND A ZERO (0) BEFORE THOSE WITH WHICH YOU DO NOT AGREE.

* This statement was omitted from 550 questionnaires. These percentages were computed using 3555 as the base. (4105 — 550)

7. BILLS HAVE BEEN INTRODUCED IN CONGRESS DURING THE PAST FEW SESSIONS TO SET UP A NATIONAL SYSTEM OF COMPULSORY HEALTH INSURANCE. UNDER THIS SYSTEM DEDUCTIONS WOULD BE MADE FROM WAGES AND SALARIES TO PAY FOR THE INSURANCE AGAINST MEDICAL AND HOSPITAL COSTS.

8. DO YOU KNOW THE SUBJECT OF THE STATEMENT ISSUED BY THE BISHOPS OF THE UNITED STATES AFTER THEIR LAST ANNUAL MEETING

14.7% No response

67.8% No

11.2% Yes, with correct answer

4.5% Yes, with incorrect answer

1.8% Yes, with subject matter not given

100.0%

WHERE DID YOU LEARN ABOUT THE BISHOPS' STATEMENT?

84.2% No response

5.6% Catholic press

2.6% Combination

2.3% Classroom

2.3% Sunday sermons

1.0% Other sources

1.0% Daily press

1.0% Copies received in church

100.0%

Future publications of the Committee will attempt more detailed analyses of this material. Generalizations or critical evaluation of the study's findings would be hazardous on the basis of the raw data presented above. There is, however, one interesting response pattern to which the reader's attention should be directed at this point: the amount of deviation from explicitly defined Catholic positions on certain core questions such as 3 c, 4 a, 4 d, 5 c, and 5 e, and question 6. The spread of opinion responses on question 4, dealing with Catholic education, is especially interesting in view of the relatively high level of Catholic educational attainment characteristic of respondents in this survey. T. J. HARTE, C.SS.R. The Catholic University of America

St. Paul, Minnesota. The Reverend William Sweeney, a member of the Sociology Department of the College of St. Thomas, died on January 7. Father Sweeney had attended the convention of the Society at Loyola University in Chicago, December 28-30. He suffered a stroke the day of his return to St. Paul. Father Sweeney received his Master's degree from The Catholic University of America. The Society's members are asked to remember him in their prayers.

Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Dr. Arthur T. Donohue of Marquette has compiled a guide to departmental administration in sociology. It appears under the title, "An Outline of a University Academic Program for a Department of Sociology," in the Alpha Kappa Deltan, published by the National Honorary Sociology Fraternity, in the Autumn 1954 issue, pp. 32-37. Joliet, Illinois. The Sociology Club of the College of St. Francis presented Dr. Otto Eisenchimel author, lecturer, industrial technologist in a public lecture on February 22. Dr. Eisenchimel spoke on "Figures of the Lincoln Era."

Geneva, Switzerland. The First United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and Treatment of Offenders will be held in Geneva from August 22 to September 3, 1955. Treatment of prisoners, selection and