Methodology

A representative, national survey of 1,500 Americans was conducted by telephone for this study. The interviews were conducted from November 3 to 12, 1999. Each interview lasted about 15 minutes, and was devoted exclusively to this issue. A follow-up telephone interview of a subset of initial respondents was conducted in mid December.

An RDD (Random-Digit-Dial) sampling methodology was utilized to ensure that the results are projectable to the American public as a whole. Sampling error for a sample this size is ± 2.6% at the 95% confidence interval.

Many steps were taken during the course of the survey to ensure this study is as representative as possible, including:

Numerous callbacks were made to each selected household, at different times of the day and different days of the week, to be certain that even the busiest Americans were included in the survey.

Callback appointments were made if people were busy at the time of initial contact.

Random selection was made within each household so that the interviews did not take place with only the person answering the phone.

All interviewers involved in the project are trained and experienced professionals, and a supervisor was on hand during all interviewing sessions.