Hello. I was researching information about stem cell research and I realized that some may not quite understand why there is even a debate about embryonic stem cell research, especially since human adults have stem cells which would be more acceptable to use in experiments/research. So I found a website that provides a lot of information if anyone wants to distinguish the difference between the two areas of research. The website explains what stem cells are and how embryonic stem cells differ from adult stem cells. If anyone is interested in finding out the difference or may not even understand why stem cells are so important to some people for medical research, please visit this website that I found which provides factual information and does not display opinions. Since I am working on this issue for a public opinion class I will be posting more on public opinion regarding this topic but for now I thought it might be important for readers to understand the facts surrounding this issue. The website is from the National Institute of Health and may be helpful:
http://stemcells.nih.gov/info/basics/basics3.asp
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Friday, August 21, 2009
Gallup Poll
Hello everyone. I am posting in order to share with you information about the poll I will be presenting to my class. As some of you may know, President Obama overturned Bush's decision that banned federal funding for stem cell research. The poll I found reflects Americans' opinions of government regulations on the issue. Bush banned stem cell research in 2001. Obama overturned this in March 2009. The poll that I am presenting was conducted February 20-22, 2009. The reason for the poll was to determine if Americans would be likely to support Obama's decision when the issue was brought up in his administration and the news. The poll was obtained through telephone interviews either by landlines or cellular phones. 1,013 national adults aged 18 and older participated. The sampling error was projected to be at +/- 3 percentage points.
The question that was asked was: "As you may know, the federal government currently provides very limited funding for medical research that uses stem cells obtained from human embryos. Which would you prefer the government to do . . . . . ?
"Place no restrictions on government funding" 14%
"Ease current restrictions to allow more research" 38%
"Keep current restrictions" 22%
"Not fund at all" 19%
I added the poll results at the end of each option. Overall, more Americans feel that the government should at least ease the current restrictions placed on stem cell research. According to the Gallup Organization, the percentage of Americans favoring at least some federal funding has remained stable since 2004 with over 50% of Americans in favor of the issue. In fact, the lowest finding was this year with 52% of Americans in favor of federal funding for stem cell research. Something interesting that is shown in this poll is that few Americans favor extreme positions such as no restrictions and no funding at all.
This is just the beginning of my research on Americans' opinion on stem cell research. I chose this poll first because it pertains to the most recent issue concerning this topic which is Obama overturning what has been in place for 8 years. I will continue to post as I find more information. Here is the link where I found the poll if anyone is interested in learning about it:
http://www.gallup.com/poll/116485/Majority-Americans-Likely-Support-Stem-Cell-Decision.aspx
The question that was asked was: "As you may know, the federal government currently provides very limited funding for medical research that uses stem cells obtained from human embryos. Which would you prefer the government to do . . . . . ?
"Place no restrictions on government funding" 14%
"Ease current restrictions to allow more research" 38%
"Keep current restrictions" 22%
"Not fund at all" 19%
I added the poll results at the end of each option. Overall, more Americans feel that the government should at least ease the current restrictions placed on stem cell research. According to the Gallup Organization, the percentage of Americans favoring at least some federal funding has remained stable since 2004 with over 50% of Americans in favor of the issue. In fact, the lowest finding was this year with 52% of Americans in favor of federal funding for stem cell research. Something interesting that is shown in this poll is that few Americans favor extreme positions such as no restrictions and no funding at all.
This is just the beginning of my research on Americans' opinion on stem cell research. I chose this poll first because it pertains to the most recent issue concerning this topic which is Obama overturning what has been in place for 8 years. I will continue to post as I find more information. Here is the link where I found the poll if anyone is interested in learning about it:
http://www.gallup.com/poll/116485/Majority-Americans-Likely-Support-Stem-Cell-Decision.aspx
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Introduction
Hello. My name is Brandi. I am a senior at Illinois State University majoring in criminal justice. I have enrolled in a political science class focusing on public opinion. I set up this blog for my class and will be discussing a topic of my choice. I chose to focus on how the public feels about embryonic stem cell research not only because it is a very important topic for politics, but also because it is important for many people regardless of their opinion. Some feel this type of research should not be permitted due to various reasons such as religious beliefs while others feel the research is necessary for their own reasons such as it may help find a cure for a disease. I will continue to post here and my next post will focus on a public opinion poll I will be presenting to my class. Feel free to post any comments you may have and remember that everyone is entitled to their opinion!
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