Survey Research Office
The Survey Research Office (SRO), a unit of the Center for State Policy and Leadership at the University of Illinois at Springfield, is designed for meeting the survey-related needs of organizations that are involved in public affairs. We specialize in offering survey services to state and local government agencies and to non-profit organizations.
NEWS AND RECENT ACTIVITIES -- AND OLDER RESULTS FOR TOPICAL SUBJECTS
Sangamon County Business Economic Outlook Survey (March, 2008)
The results of the inaugural Sangamon County Business Economic Outlook Survey were released at the The Greater Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce Economic Outlook Breakfast held on March 27, 2008. The survey is a product of a partnership between The Chamber and UIS, particularly its Center for State Policy and Leadership and its Center for Entrepreneurship.
Among the findings: Sangamon County employers are somewhat negative about the future of the local economy over the next 12 months -- with 16% expecting an increase in performance, 54% expecting a decrease and 30% expecting stability. They are more positive about their own firms -- with 37% expecting an increase, 24% a decrease and 39% seeing stability.
Expectations are most positive for the economic sectors of medical/health care followed by information and communications and then education. They are most negative for construction, manufacturing, retail trade, wholesale trade and transportation/warehousing.
The biggest challenges employers see facing their firms in the local economy over the next 12 months are energy prices (46%) and employee compensation / benefits (42%) followed by inflation (34%) and consumer confidence/spending (34%).
Click here for more information on the survey as well as more results.
Statewide Survey on Citizen Attitudes toward and Involvement in State Government (June, 2007)
Scroll down for these results
Presentation at Lincoln Land Community College (LLCC) -- Nov. 5, 2007
Richard Schuldt, Director of UIS/SRO, gave a presentation regarding the Illinois public's attitudes toward -- and involvement in -- state government and politics to LLCC's Academy for Lifelong Learning and a class on State and Local Politics at the LLCC Trutter Center.
The focus of the presentation was a summary of the results which were also presented at the June 2007 Forum on State Government and Citizen Involvement, sponsored by the Center for State Policy and Leadership (see below). In his presentation, Schuldt also covered topics relating to how surveys are conducted.
Click here for the PowerPoint slideshow.
Click here for a 14-page handout of the presentation in Acrobat pdf format.
PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION PREFERENCES: Obama and Giuliani Lead in Illinois (August 2007 survey)
Heading into the Fall of 2007, Illinois Senator Barack Obama holds a commanding lead over New York Senator Hillary Clinton as the choice for the 2008 Democratic nomination among potential Illinois primary voters. On the Republican side, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani holds a narrower but still sizeable lead, with more candidates on his heels. These are the results of a statewide survey of randomly-selected Illinois households conducted from late July through early September by the UIS Survey Research Office.
Click here for a summary of the results. (4 pages; pdf)
Click here for Democratic preference tables. (2 pages; pdf)
Click here for Republican preference tables. (2 pages; pdf)
Forum on State Government - STATE SURVEY RESULTS (June, 2007)
Findings from the Statewide Survey on Citizen Views of and Participation in State Goverment were presented at the June 20th Forum on State Government and Citizen Participation, co-sponsored by the UIS Center for State Policy and Leadership, the College of Public Affairs and Administration, and WUIS public radio station. The results are available in several formats:
Click here for a slideshow of the results.
Click here for Acrobat (pdf) format, one slide per page.
Click here for Acrobat (pdf) handout format with four slides per page (13 pages).
TOPICAL RESULTS FROM OLDER SRO SURVEYS
We present these older results here because of their topical relevance.
An "FYI" from UIS/SRO: Topical Results on Attitudes toward Gubernatorial Recall (2003)
The Chicago Tribune recently took a position in favor of giving the Illinois public the ability to recall an Illinois governor, given its evaluation of the performance of the current governor. Earlier, other Illinois politicians, including Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn, had endorsed the public's recall power. Even the Governor did, along with his endorsement of term limits for legistors.
In a statewide telephone survey of the Illinois public just weeks after California's successful recall of Governor Gray Davis and the election of Arnold Schwarzenegger as his replacement, UIS/SRO found that 60 percent of the Illinois public supported "a process in Illinois where citizens have the ability to remove a governor from office before the next election." Click here for the two-page "FYI" summary of the results in pdf format.
An "FYI" from UIS/SRO: Topical Results on the Chicago Cubs (Nov 2003)
In a statewide telephone survey of the Illinois public just weeks after the Cubs lost to the Florida Marlins in the National League Championship Series of 2003, SRO found that about half (slightly under 50%) of the Illinois public said the Cubs were their favorite baseball team compared to 10 percent who said Cardinals (prior to their 2006 World Series Championship), 7 percent who said White Sox (prior to their 2005 World Series Championship), and 7 percent who named another team. Just over one-quarter (27%) either did not have a favorite baseball team or was not a baseball fan. (The survey of more than 450 respondents has a sampling error of less than +/- 5%.)
And do you know who Steve Bartman is? Nearly one-quarter (24%) of the Illinois public had heard of Steve Bartman at the time, and 14 percent correctly identified him as the Cubs fan who interfered with the foul ball in Game 6 of the NLCS, just as Cubs fans were tasting a spot in the upcoming World Series. Awareness of Bartman was about the same for Cubs fans (23% had heard; 15% could identify); was somewhat less for Cardinal fans (17% had heard; 8% could identify); but was greater for White Sox fans (53% had heard; 27% could identify). HOWEVER, note that just about 30 White Sox fans and about 80 Cardinal fans were in the sample (so these latter percentages are subject to sampling errors of up to +/- 18% for the Sox results and +/- 11% for the Cards results).
Telephone numbers:
Office telephone number: (217) 206-6591
Office fax number: (217) 206-7979
Mailing Address:
Survey Research Office
University of Illinois at Springfield
One University Plaza, MS HRB 120
Springfield, Illinois 62703-5407
Campus Location:
Human Resources Building
Main Office -- Room 120
Interviewing Lab -- Room 109