New National Survey Gauges Knowledge on Penn State Scandal

WASHINGTON, Aug. 14, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Wilson Perkins Allen Opinion Research was hired by Los Angeles-based Documentary Filmmaker John Ziegler to gauge knowledge among adults nationwide regarding the Penn State University scandal and investigations.  This memo summarizes key findings from a poll of 1,000 adults nationwide conducted August 9-12, 2012.

Overview

• Just more than half of adults (55%) were able to correctly identify that Joe Paterno was not accused of molesting children.
  • Respondents were asked to identify the following statement as true or false: "Joe Paterno was accused of molesting children."

• More than two-thirds of adults nationwide (68%) misidentified the university that "fired a coach of a major men's sports program in 2011 for sexually abusing young boys."
  • Respondents were asked the following open-ended question: "To your best knowledge, what school fired a coach of a major men's sports program in 2011 for sexually abusing young boys?"

• Less than one percent of adults were able to identify Syracuse as the correct answer to the question.

• Overall, when asked a series of eight true/false statements, respondents generally failed to correctly identify if those statements were true or false.
  • On average, only about one-in-five respondents (21%) were able to correctly identify whether the statement was true or false. 
  • Other than the first statement about Joe Paterno (highlighted above) the range of correct responses ranged from a high of 25% to a low of 9%.

• Just over half of adults (52%) believe that the media has been treating Joe Paterno's role in this scandal fairly and accurately while 48% either said no, the media had not been fair (30%) or were unsure (18%).
  • Respondents were asked: "Considering everything you have seen, read, or heard about the scandal at Penn State, would you say that the media coverage of Joe Paterno's role in this scandal has been fair and accurate?"

View full survey results and methodology at: http://www.wparesearch.com/penn-state/

About Wilson Perkins Allen Opinion Research
Since 1998, WPA Opinion Research's corporate research arm has provided market research to more than 100 of the Fortune 500 and to hundreds of small and medium businesses nationwide.

WPA has also provided donor research to Christian and other not-for-profit organizations and alumni research to colleges and universities.  More than 200 Christian and other not-for-profit organizations around the country and dozens of large and small colleges and universities have relied on WPA's data and analysis.

SOURCE Wilson Perkins Allen Opinion Research