Vanderbilt poll offers little clarity in charter debate
Vanderbilt University's new Nashville poll probably won't bring any clarity to the city's polarizing charter debate.
Rather, the results can be spun by either side as to how the public views opening new charters in Nashville.
The poll, the first of its kind from Vanderbilt, was conducted Sept. 15-27 and surveyed 1,000 residents about various Nashville topics, including asking half of respondents mutually exclusive questions about opening more charters. The goal was to ask the question in different ways to reduce question bias. The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 5.24 percentage points.
For researchers, the two questions also were an experiment within the survey that highlighted how wording matters.
"You might think people you are asking are being contradictory, but they are not," said John Geer, a Vanderbilt professor and lead on the survey.
One question asked 517 respondents whether they favor or oppose opening more charter schools. Sixty-three percent said they favored more charters. The other, similar question asked 483 respondents whether there are "already enough" charters or "should there be more." Forty-eight percent felt there are already enough.Vanderbilt poll offers little clarity in charter debate:
