UW-RF Iraq War Survey, 2008-09
During fall 2008 and spring 2009, Dr. Erick Highum led a team exploring both views about and potential policy recommendations for the Iraq War. The team included Peter Wetzel, Regina Kunesh, John Byers, Marissa, Merchant, and UW-RF alum Tara Sowle, who helped create the survey and gathered responses from more than 300 students. The purpose was to compare various policy approaches to the Iraq War, and to test whether there is a difference in the recommendations made by students with military experience, and those without such experience. Six policy positions were examined:
a) make no change in current policy;
b) divide Iraq into three separate provinces: Kurds, Shiites, and Sunnis;
c) Stimulate Iraq's economic development;
d) increase training of Iraqi security forces;
e) withdraw U.S. troops; and
f) increase U.S. troop levels.
Current results are in the following two pdf documents. The "Summary results of 2008-2009 UWRF Iraq War Survey" file provides overall results for each of the questions in the survey. The "Crosstab Results - Averages of all responses 2008-2009 UWRF Iraq War Survey" file provides average scores for each of the questions in the survey for all 332 participating students.
Overall results suggest that UWRF students who participated in the survey:
1) would like to see a change in the current U.S. policy in Iraq (#12);
2) are in strong agreement that Iraq is currently in a state of civil war (#21);
3) are in strong agreement that economic development is an effective tool to create jobs and promote peace in Iraq (#23);
4) are in strong agreement that there is a correlation between Iraq's high unemployment rate and the likelihood of involvement in terrorist organizations (#24);
5) are in strong agreement that the Iraqi people want the U.S. troops to leave Iraq and would favor a partial U.S. troop withdrawal (#34 and #37 respectively);
6) remain unsure of the affect on Iraq of pulling U.S. troops out (#38 and #40 respectively);
7) have arrived at a near consensus that U.S. policy should be to not further increase troops levels in Iraq (#41).
8) remain uncertain that the U.S. policy to send troops to Iraq was the correct or incorrect policy approach (#42).
For more political science information
Profesor Wes Chapin, Chair
Political Science Department
University of Wisconsin-River Falls
410 S. Third Street
River Falls, WI 54022-5001
715.425.3318
715.425.0606 fax
Wes Chapin
