In Their Words: What Is the Biggest Problem Facing Americans Today?
The latest Reason-Rupe poll asked respondents to use their own words to describe the biggest problem facing Americans today. Most listed something related to the economy, jobs, and government spending. However a substantial number also mentioned political division, big government, greed, and morality. The graphic below displays the percentage of respondents who mentioned the following issues as America’s biggest problems.
Another way to visually display these results is in a tag cloud. The following graphic depicts those same responses with word size corresponding to frequency. The bigger the word, the more people who mentioned that issue.
Click here for full survey results.
Survey Methods
The Reason-Rupe Q3 2011 poll collected a nationally representative sample of 1200 respondents, aged 18 and older from all 50 states and the District of Columbia using live telephone interviews from August 9-18 2011. The margin of sampling error for this poll is ± 3 percent. The margin of error for the GOP presidential race numbers is ± 4.79 percent. Interviews were conducted with respondents using both landline (790) and mobile phones (410). Landline respondents were randomly selected within households based on the adult who had the most recent birthday. Sample was weighted by gender, age, ethnicity, and Census region, based on the most recent US Census data. The sampling frame included landline and mobile phone numbers generated using Random Digit Dialing (RDD) methods and randomly selected numbers from a directory-listed sample. Click here for full methodological details. NSON Opinion Strategy conducted the poll’s fieldwork. View full methodology.
Editor's Note: We invite comments and request that they be civil and on-topic. We do not moderate or assume any responsibility for comments, which are owned by the readers who post them. Comments do not represent the views of Reason.com or Reason Foundation. We reserve the right to delete any comment for any reason at any time.
-
Can anyone explain to me how the revolutionary Tag Cloud isn't (atleast) 5x shittier at conveying the same information as the very capable chart/graph that was presented 1st?
-
Apparently the younger generation are differently abled to the point they cannot read a standard bar chart anymore. Younger people these days must have brightly colored images manically arranged in order to keep their attention for more than 3 seconds.
-
It looks like someone gave a statistician too much time and a baggie of meth.
-
Bar charts are a phallic-derived means to suppress women in the male dominated workforce.
-
INTRINICALLY PATERNALISTICS!!!1!1!1!!!
-
LOL! I thought it was an advertisement. I had to go back and look.
STUPID not-a-graphs!
-
Other Americans.
-
I was going to say "human nature" but same thing really.
-
We have met the enemy, and he is us.
-
Rocks in rural Texas that have the word 'Nigger' painted on them (30 years ago).
-
People who protest without knowing what they're protesting against.
-
The tea party is listed.
-
+ Sweet man
-
Pollsters
-
Tag clouds.
-
Its true
-
What kind of fucking moron thinks The Tea Party is the biggest problem facing America?
-
The same kind who think spending and big government are huge problems, but don't think Democrats are. I guess they think it's some natural phenomenon like earthquakes.
-
What kind of fucking moron thinks The Tea Party is the biggest problem facing America?
---------------------------
Look above....Tony to the rescue. -
Tea Party, Republicans, and Democrats -Ahhhhhhhhh, no one hates the insignificant libertarians
-
The bulk of the 8% whose answers were deemed "ambiguous" responded with simply "monocles", so as you can see, libertarians are the problem to most people.
-
Ambiguous genitalia? I didn't know that was associated with Libertarianism, similar to Autism SD. Rock your Pseudohermaphroditism!
-
2% got it right:
Entitlements.
That. Is. The. Fucking. Problem.
-
My biggest problem is that I can't pay my bills on the wages they pay here.
-
Nobody said taxes are too low?
-
Vampires.
-
Werewolves
-
House elves.
-
Basic math came in at 7%. Not surprising...
-
Asking idiots their opinions.
-
Those damn kids!
-
Hey no one blamed the immigrants.
-
What? But they takin' oor jobs!
-
Global warming doesn't make the list? That's going to send Al off on another tirade.
-
Undercooked haggis
-
What Is the Biggest Problem Facing Americans Today?
Lack of alt-text.
-
3% of Reasonoids think the greed is a problem? OK, who is manning the door?
-
Here you can choose more new products, enjoy more discounts, so you get favorite products while saving money.