People who want to share their views about the situation in Iraq now have another place to go. Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison on Saturday announced the launch of a new, Internet-based survey about the U.S.-Iraq conflict.
The survey is open to anyone with Internet access. Web users can simply point their browser to http://www.journalism.wisc.edu/~dshah/protest/survey.html.
The researchers hope people from all sides of the debate will participate in the study. ¡°This is a great chance for people to tell us what they think about the war and the protests,¡± said Professor Dhavan Shah, who is leading the project. ¡°The more people we hear from, the more we can learn about these issues.¡±
Shah is a professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at UW-Madison. The study is part of a class he teaches on mass communication and democracy, and he hopes the data will help train the next generation of journalists.
¡°This project grew out of a perception that the media aren¡¯t doing a great job covering this conflict,¡± Shah said. ¡°We hope that by surveying thousands of Americans and looking carefully at the results, we can make sure the media do a better job in the future."
This is not the first time Shah has investigated news coverage of important community and national events. His research includes studies of presidential politics, citizen decision-making, and political tolerance.
For more information, contact Shah at protestsurvey@journalism.wisc.edu