This special topic poll, fielded April 10-15, 2008, is a part of a continuing series of monthly surveys that solicit public opinion on the presidency and on a range of other political and social issues. The focus of this data collection was the opinions of adults 18 to 29 years of age on the 2008 presidential election and other issues. Respondents were asked about the most important issue facing their generation at the present time and twenty years into the future, whether the country was moving in the right direction, the condition of the national economy, and job opportunities for people in their generation. Views were sought on the 2008 presidential campaign, differences between the Democratic and Republican parties, the amount of influence their generation would have in deciding the next president, the most important issues in their vote, their opinions of the presidential candidates, whether the 2008 campaign focused too much on the candidate's race and gender, and whether African Americans or women faced more obstacles as candidates for president and in everyday life in America. Information was collected on whether respondents had already registered or planned to register to vote in the 2008 general election, whether they planned to or had already voted in a Democratic or Republican primary or caucus in their state, for whom they would vote for if the general election were held that day, whether they had been personally contacted by a political campaign and asked to register to vote, and whether they had ever been involved in a political campaign. A series of questions asked respondents how they got their information about politics, their use of social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace, and Friendster, and whether they had ever visited a political or campaign Web site, watched a political video or campaign advertisement on a video Web site like YouTube, and had ever posted anything about politics on the internet, such as in a blog or chat room. Additional topics addressed the Iraq war, how much impact MTV could have in raising awareness among young people about political issues, and whether respondents were familiar with MTV's "Choose or Lose" campaign. Demographic variables include sex, age, race, education level, marital status, whether respondents had children under 18 years of age, household income, political party affiliation, political philosophy, voter registration status and participation history, religious preference, and whether respondents considered themselves to be a born-again Christian.

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Definitions

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Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research

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promise of confidentiality

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research subject

A person or organization observed for purposes of research. Also called a respondent. A respondent is generally a survey respondent or informant, experimental or observational subject, focus group participant, or any other person providing information to a study or on whose behalf a proxy provides information.

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