DESIGN OF THE HAR SURVEY

1. HOW AMERICA RESPONDSA Survey Project at the Institute for Social ResearchThe University of Michigan

2. Beginning on the afternoon of September 11, a multidisciplinary group of ISR researchers assembled to consider how they could contribute to an understanding of the impact of the attacks on the World Trade Center.

3. The group included economists, political scientists, psychologists, sociologists, demographers, and survey methodologists They decided that fielding a survey to measure attitudes and behaviors and how they were related – and disseminating the findings widely – would be an appropriate and useful contribution.

4. DESIGN OF THE HAR SURVEY Design discussions focused on 4 areas: • INITIAL ASSUMPTIONS • HYPOTHESIS FORMATION • INSTRUMENTATION • SAMPLE DESIGN

5. DESIGN OF THE HAR SURVEY INITIAL ASSUMPTIONS A large number of media polls would provide quick snapshots of reactions to current events Their primary focus would be on telephone respondents, without much attention to families and children Their data would be under-analyzed

6. ISR could do better than this by focusing on: Longitudinal analysis (past and future) Families and children Multidisciplinary structure and analysis Multivariate analysis

7. DESIGN OF THE HAR SURVEY HYPOTHESIS FORMATION Focus would be on: • psychological well being • political attitudes • social interactions and attitudes • behavioral intentions regarding the economy

8. H: Symptoms of stress would increase in both the short and longer term H: There would be a surge in patriotism and feelings of isolation H: Support for restrictions in civil liberties would increase in exchange for greater personal security H: Stereotyping of minority groups would increase, especially for groups connected to the events H: Consumer buying behavior would suffer from the short term shocks, and uncertainty and pessimism would increase

9. DESIGN OF THE HAR SURVEY INSTRUMENTATION An emphasis was placed on using items from past surveys to produce longitudinal trend data (Oklahoma City, invasion of Iraq, Kennedy assassination) A CATI application was designed to facilitate rapid data collection and analysis, as well as to provide for appropriate branching and randomization patterns for questions.

10. DESIGN OF THE HAR SURVEY SAMPLE DESIGN A list-assisted sample would be drawn for a national sample of telephone households The goal would be 750 interviews with a response rate of 60% or greater Recontact information would be obtained for future waves of interviewing

11. DESIGN OF THE HAR SURVEY FIELD WORK Interviewing began on Saturday evening, September 15, after a day of training The bulk of interviewing was completed by October 8, and initial results appeared in press releases shortly thereafter, based on 668 interviews To date, 752 interviews have been completed for a response rate of 60%

12. RESULTS FROM THE HAR SURVEY The analysis has focused on four main areas: 1. Reactions to the attacks 2. Psychological responses and coping 3. Attitudes about Patriotism and Civil Liberties 4. Economic Attitudes and Behavior

13. REACTIONS TO THE ATTACKS

14. How Did Americans First Learn about the Attacks?

15. Americans Followed The News about the Attacks Closely

16. Thinking about Possible Explanations for the Attacks

17. Attention to the News Is Related to Agreement with Some Explanations

18. How Do the September 11 Attacks Compare to Other Events?

19. The Respondents’ Age Affects Which Comparisons They Draw

20. The Attacks Have Affected People’s Sense of Safety And Security

21. Attention to the News Is Related to a Lowered Sense of Safety

22. PSYCHOLOGICAL RESPONSES TO THE ATTACKS AND COPING MECHANISMS

23. How Are Americans Reacting to the Attacks?

24. Personal Sense of Safety and Security Is Related to Symptoms of Depression

25. Comparison of Depressive Symptoms over Time

26. Depression Levels Differ between Races

27. Depression Levels Decrease with Age, Especially for Men

28. Depression Levels by Gender and Race

29. What Did Americans Do to Cope with the Attacks?

30. Comparison of Coping Strategy Use over Time

31. Another Comparison of Coping Strategy Use over Time

32. Coping Strategies by Race

33. Coping Strategies by Gender

34. Coping Strategies by Age

35. ATTITUDES ABOUT PATRIOTISM AND CIVIL LIBERTIES

36. Willingness to Give Up Civil Liberties Is Negatively Related to Personal Sense of Safety and Security

37. Americans Support Measures to Reduce Terrorist Acts

38. Favorability Assessments of American Ethnic Groups Are Higher than Recently

39. Favorability of Ethnic Groups in the United States and Overseas

40. Blacks Report Lower Favorability Ratings of Ethnic Groups than Whites

41. Strong Relationship between Education and Ethnic Group Favorability

42. ECONOMIC ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIOR

43. Consumer sentiment and behavioral intentions regarding the economy were negatively impacted by the attacks

44. Americans Expect Unemployment to Increase

45. Do Americans Think This Is a Good Time to Buy Durable Goods?

46. Index of Consumer Sentiment declined from the previous month, and its values were related to a Sense of Personal Safety

47. What Would Americans Do with an Additional $1,000 Tax Rebate?

48. Consumers See Stock Market Opportunities in the Next Year