Most Important Problem Facing the Country Today (February 2018)

Most Important Problem Facing the Country Today (February 2018)

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    Respondents were asked, "What would you say is the most important problem facing this country today?"

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categoryTotal
Political corruption/leadership21%
Immigration12%
Federal spending/national debt6%
Health care6%
National security/terrorism5%
Border security5%
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    Respondents were asked, "What would you say is the most important problem facing this country today?"
    Measurement of Party ID for this figure is based on two questions. First, respondents were asked whether they consider themselves to be a Democrats, Republicans, independents, other, or not sure. Those who responded that they are independents or "other" were then asked if they lean toward either the Democrats or Republicans. If they indicated that they lean toward one party or the other, they are considered Democrats or Republicans for the purposes of this figure. Only "pure" independents or members of a third party who indicate that they have no preference for Democrats vis-a-vis Republicans are considered independents . Respondents who answered that they are "not sure" for either of the two aforementioned questions are not incorporated into this figure.
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categoryDemocratIndependentRepublican
Political corruption/leadership31%14%13%
Immigration5%18%17%
Federal spending/national debt4%5%9%
Health care9%6%3%
National security/terrorism3%3%8%
Border security0%3%10%
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    Respondents were asked, "What would you say is the most important problem facing this country today?"
    Party identification is calculated according to the PID7 variable, a seven point scale of party identification.
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categoryLean DemocratNot very strong DemocratStrong Democrat
Political corruption/leadership40%20%32%
Immigration2%7%5%
Federal spending/national debt3%9%2%
Health care6%14%8%
National security/terrorism3%4%3%
Border Security0%0%0%
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    Respondents were asked, "What would you say is the most important problem facing this country today?"
    Party identification is calculated according to the PID7 variable, a seven point scale of party identification.
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categoryLean RepublicanNot very strong RepublicanStrong Republican
Political corruption/leadership19%11%9%
Immigration14%12%22%
Federal spending/national debt13%8%7%
Health care2%6%3%
National security/terrorism6%10%9%
Border security13%3%10%
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    Respondents were asked, "What would you say is the most important problem facing this country today?"
    Ideology is measured on a scale of 1-7, with 1 corresponding to "extremely liberal", 7 corresponding to "extremely conservative, and 4 corresponding to "in the middle." For the purposes of this table, respondents who placed themselves at or between points 1 and 3 on the scale are considered "liberal," respondents who placed themselves at point 4 on the scale are considered "moderate," and respondents who placed themselves at or between points 5 and 7 on the scale are considered conservative.
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categoryLiberalsModeratesConservatives
Political corruption/leadership39%19%13%
Immigration2%9%18%
Federal spending/national debt1%7%9%
Health care7%9%4%
National security/terrorism1%6%7%
Border security0%1%9%
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    Respondents were asked, "What would you say is the most important problem facing this country today?"
    The ideology measure is based on respondent self-placement in response to the following question: "On a scale from 1 to 7, where 1 is extremely liberal, 7 is extremely conservative, and 4 is exactly in the middle, where would you place yourself?" The placements are further classified such that 1 is extremely liberal, 2 is very liberal, 3 is somewhat liberal, 4 is moderate, 5 is somewhat conservative, 6 is very conservative, and 7 is extremely conservative.
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categoryLeaning liberalSomewhat liberalExtremely liberal
Political corruption/leadership32%42%41%
Immigration1%2%2%
Federal spending/national debt3%0%0%
Health care7%4%11%
National security/terrorism2%1%1%
Border Security0%0%0%
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    Respondents were asked, "What would you say is the most important problem facing this country today?"
    The ideology measure is based on respondent self-placement in response to the following question: "On a scale from 1 to 7, where 1 is extremely liberal, 7 is extremely conservative, and 4 is exactly in the middle, where would you place yourself?" The placements are further classified such that 1 is extremely liberal, 2 is very liberal, 3 is somewhat liberal, 4 is moderate, 5 is somewhat conservative, 6 is very conservative, and 7 is extremely conservative.
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categoryLeaning conservativeSomewhat conservativeExtremely conservative
Political corruption/leadership16%10%14%
Immigration13%17%22%
Federal spending/national debt12%10%7%
Health care5%5%4%
National security/terrorism6%8%8%
Border security8%9%10%
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    Respondents were asked, "What would you say is the most important problem facing this country today?"
    Tea Party identification is based on the following question, also asked in the survey: "Suppose the Tea Party movement organized itself as a political party. When thinking about the next election for Congress, would you vote for the Republican candidate from your district, the Democratic candidate from your district, or the Tea Party candidate from your district?" Those who responded "Republican candidate" are considered Republicans (non-Tea Party movement) and those who responded "Tea Party candidate" are considered Tea Party Republicans.
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categoryDemocratRepublicanTea Party
Political corruption/leadership32%9%19%
Immigration4%16%21%
Federal spending/national debt3%6%13%
Health care8%5%4%
National security/terrorism3%9%6%
Border security0%8%11%
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    Respondents were asked, "What would you say is the most important problem facing this country today?"
    Race is calculated according to the race variable.
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categoryWhiteBlackHispanic
Political corruption/leadership20%22%23%
Immigration13%2%14%
Federal spending/national debt6%9%5%
Health care5%9%8%
National security/terrorism6%2%6%
Border security7%0%1%
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    Respondents were asked, "What would you say is the most important problem facing this country today?"
    Gender is calculated according to the GENDER variable.
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categoryMaleFemale
Political corruption/leadership18%24%
Immigration13%10%
Federal spending/national debt9%4%
Health care4%8%
National security/terrorism5%6%
Border security6%3%
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    Respondents were asked, "What would you say is the most important problem facing this country today?"
    Community is based on the following question, " Would you say that you live in an urban, suburban, or rural community?"
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categoryUrbanSuburbanRural
Political corruption/leadership19%21%27%
Immigration12%10%14%
Federal spending/national debt4%7%7%
Health care6%7%4%
National security/terrorism5%5%5%
Border security3%5%6%
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    Respondents were asked, "What would you say is the most important problem facing this country today?"
    Age is calculated according to the AGEG variable.
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category18-2930-4445-6465+
Political corruption/leadership13%16%25%26%
Immigration11%12%8%16%
Federal spending/national debt3%6%6%9%
Health care6%6%8%4%
National security/terrorism2%5%6%7%
Border security2%1%5%9%
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    Respondents were asked, "What would you say is the most important problem facing this country today?"
    Education is calculated according to the EDUC variable.
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categoryNo high schoolHigh school graduateSome college2-year4-yearPost-grad
Political corruption/leadership46%18%23%16%23%21%
Immigration3%15%10%19%10%8%
Federal spending/national debt3%7%4%6%7%7%
Health care4%8%8%3%7%2%
National security/terrorism3%2%8%4%6%7%
Border security0%5%5%7%5%2%
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    Respondents were asked, "What would you say is the most important problem facing this country today?" Religiosity is calculated according to the IMPORT variable.
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categoryExtremely importantSomewhat importantNot very importantNot at all important
Political corruption/leadership18%20%22%32%
Immigration12%14%7%7%
Federal spending/national debt7%7%6%2%
Health care6%9%4%5%
National security/terrorism7%5%7%2%
Border security6%3%6%3%
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    Respondents were asked, "What would you say is the most important problem facing this country today?" Fundamentalism is calculated according to the LITERAL variable.
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categoryThe Bible is the word of God, to be taken literallyThe Bible is the word of God, not to be taken literallyThe Bible is a book written by men
Political corruption/leadership17%21%30%
Immigration14%13%6%
Federal spending/national debt5%9%4%
Health care6%7%5%
National security/terrorism7%6%2%
Border security7%5%1%

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