Most Americans Opposed to Banning Any Books

NEW YORK, April 12, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Banning or censoring books has been debated for years.  A new Harris Poll shows, however, that a majority of Americans think no books should be banned completely (56%) while fewer than one in five say there are books which should be banned (18%); a quarter are not at all sure (26%).  The older and less educated people are, the more likely they are to say that there are some books which should be banned completely.  Opinions on banning books are linked to political philosophy: almost three quarters of Liberals (73%) say no books should be banned, compared to six in ten Moderates (60%) but only two in five Conservatives (41%) who say no books should be banned.

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These are some of the results of The Harris Poll of 2,379 adults surveyed online between March 7 and 14, 2011 by Harris Interactive.

Books in School Libraries

While few Americans think that there are books which should be banned completely, opinions differ on books that should be available to children in school libraries.  Strong majorities say that children should be able to get The Holy Bible (83%) and books that discuss evolution (76%) from school libraries.  Majorities also say so for other religious texts such as the Torah or Talmud (59%) and the Koran (57%), but approximately a quarter say these texts should not be available (24% and 28%, respectively) to children in school libraries.  Half or more say that children should be able to get books with vampires (57%), books with references to drugs or alcohol (52%) and books with witchcraft or sorcery (50%) in school libraries, but between 34% and 41% say that each of these types of books should not be available there.  There is no consensus on books with references to sex (48% say they should be available, 45% say they should not) and violence (44% say should, 48% say should not).  A majority of Americans say, however, that books with explicit language should not be available to children in school libraries (62%).

Additional results include:

• Older Americans are significantly more likely than those younger to say each type of book listed should not be available in school libraries with one exception—Echo Boomers (aged 18-34) are more likely than Matures (aged 66 and older) to say that The Holy Bible should not be available to children in school libraries (15% vs. 9%);
• Women are more likely than men to think each type of book listed should not be available to children in school libraries with the exception of the religious texts (The Holy Bible, the Torah, Talmud and Koran), which men are slightly more likely to say should not be available; and,
• The more education one has the less likely they are to say that each type of book listed should not be available to children in school libraries (there is between an 8 and 25 percentage point difference between those who have a post graduate education and those who have not attended college on what types of books should not be available to children in school libraries).

Changing Huckleberry Finn?

One reason for asking these questions is the current debate about changing the word "nigger" to "slave" every time it appears in Mark Twain's classic American novel, Huckleberry Finn.  When asked if they support or oppose this change only 13% of Americans say they support it and 77% say they oppose it with six in ten (59%) strongly opposing it.  Men and those with more education are more likely than women and those with less education to oppose this change.  Additionally:

• Despite stronger support for some book censorship explored in this survey, Conservatives are equally as likely as Moderates and Liberals to oppose this change to Huckleberry Finn (76%, 78% and 77%, respectively);
• White adults are more likely to oppose this change (80%) than are those who are Hispanic (71%) or Black (63%); and,
• Despite its setting in the antebellum South, Southerners do not have outlying opinions regarding the proposed changes to Huckleberry Finn.  Rather, Easterners are least opposed to the changes (71%) and Midwesterners are most opposed (81%) with Southerners and Midwesterners falling in the middle (78% and 79% respectively).

So What?

In this survey the minorities are as interesting as the majorities: large numbers of adults think that The Holy Bible (11%), the Torah (24%), the Koran (28%), books with vampires (34%) or ones which discuss evolution (16%) should not be available in school libraries, and 18% of the public think some books should be banned completely, including 26% of Conservatives and 29% of Matures.

Methodology

This Harris Poll was conducted online within the United States between March 7 to 14, 2011 among 2,379 adults (aged 18 and over). Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents' propensity to be online.

All sample surveys and polls, whether or not they use probability sampling, are subject to multiple sources of error which are most often not possible to quantify or estimate, including sampling error, coverage error, error associated with nonresponse, error associated with question wording and response options, and post-survey weighting and adjustments. Therefore, Harris Interactive avoids the words "margin of error" as they are misleading. All that can be calculated are different possible sampling errors with different probabilities for pure, unweighted, random samples with 100% response rates. These are only theoretical because no published polls come close to this ideal.

Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in Harris Interactive surveys. The data have been weighted to reflect the composition of the adult population. Because the sample is based on those who agreed to participate in the Harris Interactive panel, no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.

These statements conform to the principles of disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.

The results of this Harris Poll may not be used in advertising, marketing or promotion without the prior written permission of Harris Interactive.

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Q905, 910, 920

The Harris Poll® #47, April 12, 2011

By Samantha Braverman, Sr. Project Researcher, Harris Interactive

About Harris Interactive

Harris Interactive is one of the world's leading custom market research firms, leveraging research, technology, and business acumen to transform relevant insight into actionable foresight. Known widely for the Harris Poll and for pioneering innovative research methodologies, Harris offers expertise in a wide range of industries including healthcare, technology, public affairs, energy, telecommunications, financial services, insurance, media, retail, restaurant, and consumer package goods. Serving clients in over 215 countries and territories through our North American, European, and Asian offices and a network of independent market research firms, Harris specializes in delivering research solutions that help us – and our clients – stay ahead of what's next. For more information, please visit www.harrisinteractive.com.

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SOURCE Harris Interactive