Gun Control Attitude Survey

Gun Control Survey

1.        What is your age? (circle one):  -18    18-28    28-35    35-45    45-55    60+

2.        What is your gender? (circle one):   Male     Female

3.       What is your ethnicity? (Circle all that apply):  Caucasian     African American   Latino     Native American     Asian      Other   

	Please circle one of the following that best describes you.	SA	A	U	D	SD
4	My city or town experiences gun violence	1	2	3	4	5
5	I am a gun owner or interested in owning a gun	1	2	3	4	5
6	The age to own a gun should be raised from 18 to 21	1	2	3	4	5
7	Improved background checks should be required to determine mental instabilities before an individual can purchase a gun	1	2	3	4	5
8	Guns are responsible for many crimes in America	1	2	3	4	5
9	People are responsible for many crimes in America	1	2	3	4	5
10	Citizens should be required to undergo safety training to own a gun	1	2	3	4	5
11	Armed officers or military personnel placed in schools and populated buildings would reduce gun violence	1	2	3	4	5
12	Increased punishment severity for  gun traffickers would reduce gun crime	1	2	3	4	5
13	Increased gun control would reduce gun violence	1	2	3	4	5
14	Teachers and superintendents should be allowed to carry guns if they undergo training and qualifications annually	1	2	3	4	5
15	Gun owners should be randomly drug tested	1	2	3	4	5
16	I am familiar with the 2nd Amendment of Constitution	1	2	3	4	5
17	Trained and qualified citizens should be able to carry his or her gun in public places such as churches, schools, banks, sporting events, etc.	1	2	3	4	5
18	An armed citizen is likely to decrease the amount of causalities during a gun crime	1	2	3	4	5
SA: Strongly Agree  A: Agree  U: Unsure   D: Disagree  SD: Strongly Disagree

Gun Control Attitude Survey

A gun control survey has been prepared for the administration to police officers in several cities across America.  The purpose of the survey will be explained in addition to preliminary design issues such as mode of administration, length, item formal, number of scores, score reports, administrator training, and background research (Hogan, 2007).  Specific instruction will be given in regards to preparation, administration, scoring, and interpretation of the gun control survey. 

Purpose and Preliminary Design

The purpose of the gun control survey is to define if police officers across America are for or against gun control.  The mode of administration for this survey will be group administered.  The individuals taking the survey do not need to be observed during the test and group administration is efficient for this style of survey.  The survey is short and will only take about fifteen minutes to administer per group with very little preparation time.  Preparation time will only include setting up test room to accommodate the group in addition to making the appropriate number of copies.  The gun control survey designed for the police officers includes 18 questions of a broad nature.  This test is not meant to be sensitive or open-ended, but to get a general idea of how police officers in America feel about gun control.  There are three questions asked about the age, gender, and ethnicity of the participant for grouping purposes.  The remaining 15 questions are on a 5-scale agree-disagree format.  The choice range from strongly agree to strongly disagree, with a neutral and unsure option.       

This survey will generate one score per participant.  The three questions asked about the individual’s age, gender, and ethnicity will be used on a per question basis for further analysis.  The 15 agree-disagree questions will each be put into graph form, showing how the majority and minority of police officers voted.  There will be no need for administrator training.  The test is self-explanatory and will not be scored by the administrators.  The tests will be sent back to production team for analysis.  The production team will score each test, entering the data into spreadsheet format.  Once the scores have been entered graphs will be created from the data to display the results to the public.    Background research will be completed on police officers as well as the cities that the survey is administered, which will be several cities across the United States.

 Administration, Scoring, and Interpretation

Administers of the test will schedule a block of time for each group to participate in the survey.  Copies will be made ahead of time and given out to the participants.  There will be no time limit, but it should only take an average of 15 minutes for each participant to complete the survey.  The survey’s will be turned in face-down upon completion.  There will be no discussion aloud during the survey and participants will be allowed to leave the testing room upon completion.  Once all the surveys have been administered to each group, depending on the department’s choice to test officers in small groups or everyone at once, the tests will be placed into a confidential envelope and mailed back to the production team for analysis.  All surveys will be due back to the production team by a specified date.  The company will not be sent results for each individual from that department, but will be invited to see overall results after publication. 

There is no right or wrong answers to this survey.  The number system on the test will be changed after the participants complete the test.  This is so that the participants are not inclined to choose either the lowest or highest numbers based upon his or her predisposition for gun control.  The numbers will be changes from 1 to 5, 1 being not for gun control and 5 being strongly for gun control.  Once the numbers are changed during analysis the participants will be given a number score.  The lower the score the less she or she is for gun control, the higher the score the more he or she is for gun control. 

The scores will be given only to police officers, which is the norm of the test.  After all the tests are scored and entered into graphs each individual question will then be broken down into further norms such as age, race, and gender.  Only some of these norms will be published along with the original graph of all the results.  All of the questions will be formed into graphs and published on a website.  The web address will be sent out to the police departments that participated.  A web address as well as a printed copy of the publication will then be sent to state governors of the participating states.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the gun control survey is to get the opinions of police officers across America on gun control.  The survey is fairly simple and is will not be complicated for police departments to administer to their officers.  The police departments will not be responsible for scoring the agree-disagree formatted surveys.  The production team will score and interpret results in addition to comprising graphs and written presentations of the results for publication, which will be on a website as well as printed for individual distribution. 

References

Hogan, T. P. (2007). Psychological testing: A practical introduction (2^nd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.