1. Do you think that the Nobel Prizes are awarded without political motives by the judges?
Yes.................................14%
No...................................63
Neutral.............................20
No answer/Don't Know........3
2.. Does the Nobel Prize give you a more positive or a more negative image of the country of Sweden?
Positive............................15%
Negative...........................32
Neutral.............................45
No Answer/Don't Know........8
Question for possible analysis: Why would a country have an international award that 63% of Americans believe is politically motivated and that creates a negative impression in 2 of 3 Americans who have an impression?
Thumbing your nose at the U.S. is an old tradition, but alienating Americans in decision-making positions is possibly counterproductive. The most mentioned awards were those to former VP Gore, viewed as a slap at President Bush, and the prize for literature, which was not awarded to John Updike amidst negative comments from a Nobel judge about the quality of American fiction.
3. This is a list of all of the European countries. Please check up to 3 countries that you think are the closest allies of the United States. [The country totals are from 533 focus group participants who combined to list 1505 countries.]
United Kingdom.......413................................................
Ireland..................................................................................
Poland.................................................................................
Finland.................................................................................
Hungary...............................................................................
Czech Republic.....................................................................
Italy.....................................................................................
Netherlands..........................................................................
Turkey...................................................................................
Russia................................................................................
4. ...and please check the 3 countries that are the least likely to be allies.
France....................................................................................
Russia......................................................................................
Spain........................................................................................
Germany....................................................................................
Question for possible analysis: How can Russia score in the same relative position as France and Germany?
5. If war breaks out in Europe, will the United States become involved?
Yes...................................510
No..................................... 9
No Answer/Don't Know..........14
6. If war breaks out in Europe, which one country is most likely to be the catalyst for war?
Germany.......................................412
Georgia/Russia..............................399
Muslims/immigrants/residents........ 283*
Russia..........................................259
Spanish nationalists......................142**
*volunteered in various forms
**volunteered in various forms plus total for Spain
Questions: (a) Why is Germany so threatening to Americans? (This is even more extreme than results for Europe.) (b) Who would have believed that Americans know so much about Spain? (Ireland/IRA had 6 mentions.)
Focus groups raw results from 3-24-09 - 3-29-09.
