SGER: The Dynamic, Multi-Faceted Effects of Threat on U.S. Domestic and Foreign Policy Attitudes

This project, submitted under the Small Grant for Exploratory Research (SGER) program, will examine public attitudes toward the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The researchers are undertaking telephone interviews with approximately 100 individuals each week for six months as part of a national rolling-cross section design. The research offers the opportunity to study public attitudes in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks and assess the impact of threat on public opinion and its interaction with public policy decision making. These data will be of value to scholars interested in the topic and also to decision-makers trying to differentiate among threats to physical safety, the American economy, and the American culture, status and way of life. The researchers will be able to gauge how public opinion changes over time on issues under debate in Washington in tandem with changes in perceived threat.