ATI Polling

			Y2K Surveys

ATI #32 Full Report

U.S. National Issues Survey

Master Questionnaire Results

October 30 – November 3, 1999, N=1000 Adults
Conducted by Market Strategies, Inc.
Southfield, Michigan
Frederick T. Steeper

Margin of error for full sample: +/- 3.1%
Margin of error for half samples: +/- 4.4%
Sample weighted to known census parameters
for gender and region in total and race within South/non-South

Q1. I’d like to ask, all things considered, how do you feel about computers? Have they made your life better, worse, OR in some ways better, in some worse, (INTERVIEWER, READ IF NECESSARY:) OR have they NOT affected you much one way or the other?*

	Nov 1999	Apr 1999	Aug 1998
Better	50%	49%	78%
Worse	3	1	6
Some ways better, some worse	18	20	N/A
Not affected/No difference	28	29	40
Don’t know	1	1	2
Refused/NA	<1	<1

*August 1998 wording: "All things considered, would you say that computers have made your life better or worse?" "Not affected/No difference" was accepted as a volunteered code only.

Q2. As you may know, many computers in this country and around the world have to be fixed, reprogrammed, or replaced so they will operate properly when computers have to deal with calendar date changes in years beginning with two thousand. This has been called the Year two thousand problem, the millennium glitch, the millennium bug, or the Y2K (WHY TWO KAY) problem. How much have you heard about this problem? (READ CODES 1-4)

	Nov 1999	Apr 1999	Dec 1998*	Aug 1998
Nothing	1%	2%	8%	9%
Very little	8	6	13	16
Some	14	20	40	29
A lot	76	72	39	45
Don't know	<1	<1		<1
Refused	<1			<1

*Poll conducted for the NSF and USA Today by Gallup. Total of 1032 adults interviewed December 9-13, 1998.

Q3. (Asked of those saying they know "a lot.") Would you consider yourself an "expert" in this problem?

	Nov 1999	Apr 1999	Aug 1998
Yes	7%	6%	5%
No/Not Asked	93	94	95

Q5. How serious do you think the Y2K problem is going to turn out to be? We’ll use a one-to-five scale, where one means you think it will be a NOT-AT-ALL SERIOUS problem and five means you think it will be a EXTREMELY SERIOUS problem. You can use any number between one and five. The bigger the number, the more serious of a problem you think it will be.

	Nov 1999	Apr 1999	Aug 1998
1	26%	15%	10%
2	40	33	18
3	25	36	34
4	4	8	19
5	4	6	17
Average	2.2	2.6	3.2
Don't know/Refused	1	2	3

Let’s go into this a little more:

For each of the following, please tell me whether that is something you probably will or WILL NOT do in order to protect yourself against Y2K problems.

Rank-Ordered by Percent "Probably Will Do"

	Probably Will Do	Probably Won't Do	DK/ Ref
Q10A. Obtain special confirmation or documentation of your bank balances, retirement funds, or other financial records.
November 1999	49%	50	1
April 1999	60%	37	3
December 1998	65%	33	2
Q10B. Avoid traveling on airplanes on or around January one, two thousand.
November 1999**	43%	40	1
April 1999	54%	41	5
December 1998	47%	50	3
QB10C. Withdraw some or all of your money from the bank.
November 1999	24%	75	1
April 1999	32%	65	2
December 1998***	31%	66	3
QA10C. Withdraw all your money from the bank.
November 1999	10%	89	1
April 1999	12%	84	4
December 1998	16%	82	2

* Poll conducted for the NSF and USA Today Gallup. Total of 1032 adults interviewed December 9-13, 1998.
** "Don't travel on airplanes" allowed as a volunteered code in November; results shown as DK/Ref."
*** Gallup wording: "Withdraw and set aside a large amount of cash."

In the coming months, you will probably hear a lot more about Y2K. I am going to read a list of people and ask you to think about this: If you happened to see or hear that person discussing Y2K issues, how much would you be inclined to trust what he or she said about this issue? If you’ve never heard of a person, just let me know and we’ll move on to the next one. The [first/next] is: __________. How much would you trust ____________ on Y2K?

Rank-Ordered by Percent "A Lot" and "Some"

	Lot/ Some	A Lot	Some	Hardly	None	Not Heard of	DK/ Ref
QA14. Bill Gates, head of Microsoft
November 1999	83%	43%	40	11	3	2	1
April 1999	77%	35%	42	14	4	4	1
August 1998	80%	42%	38	14	2	4	1
QA15. A computer expert working for a large corporation with years of experience including programming many kinds of old computers-computers that worked fine for years but now have millennium bugs.
November 1999	83%	38%	45	10	3	2	1
April 1999	86%	39%	48	9	4	1	1
August 1998	89%	51%	38	9	<1	<1	1
QB13. A computer expert working for a large corporation.
April 1999	83%	30%	53	11	4	1	1
August 1998	85%	36%	49	10	2	1	2
QB16. Your local bank manager
November 1999	79%	32%	47	14	4	1	1
April 1999	72%	24%	47	20	6	1	1
August 1998	66%	17%	49	23	7	2	2
QB15. An expert in handling disasters
April 1999	76%	21%	55	17	4	1	1
August 1998	63%	20%	44	28	7	1	1
QA13. A computer expert working for the federal government
April 1999	72%	20%	52	20	7	<1	<1
August 1998	72%	22%	50	21	4	1	1
QB14. The leader of a multi-billion dollar financial services company
November 1999	68%	16%	52	23	6	2	1
April 1999	64%	16%	48	25	8	2	2
August 1998	61%	16%	45	28	8	1	2
QA16. An expert in why people in a disaster sometimes cooperate and sometimes do not.
April 1999	67%	9%	58	24	6	1	3
August 1998	62%	12%	50	27	5	2	3
QA 12. Former astronaut and Senator, John Glenn
April 1999	63%	15%	48	25	8	2	1
QB12. Former President George Bush
April 1999	62%	18%	44	29	7	<1	1
August 1998	61%	18%	42	29	8	1	2
QA12. Presidential candidate George W. Bush
November 1999	55%	11%	44	32	9	1	3
QA11. Bill Clinton
April 1999	49%	12%	37	32	18	<1	1
August 1998	54%	14%	39	33	11	1	1
QB11. Al Gore
November 1999	46%	9%	37	34	15	2	2
April 1999	47%	10%	37	33	17	1	1
August 1998	49%	12%	37	36	10	2	2

If Y2K turns out to be a big disaster, who do you think should be held responsible for that disaster? I am going to read the names of some people and organizations. For each one, please tell me how much RESPONSIBILITY you think that person or organization would have for a Y2K disaster: A lot, some, or none? After each item, if respondent indicated that individual bore any responsibility at all they were asked two follow-up questions: "Should he/they be held accountable?*" and "Should he/they be held legally liable?*"

Rank-Ordered by Percent "A Lot" and "Some"

	Lot/ Some	A lot	Some	None	Dep.	DK/ Ref	Acctbl	Liable
QB21. Computer companies that ignored the Y2K problem for years.**
November 1999	91%	69%	22	7	1	1	76	60
April 1999	93%	71%	22	6	<1	<1	78	64
August 1998	94%	70%	24	5	1	1	79	61
QB21P. Computer companies***
April 1999	91%	60%	31	7	1	1	70	51
August 1998	89%	54%	35	10	<1	1	66	44
QB19. Corporate leaders, who lobbied a bill through Congress and the Administration that limits liability for corporations if they fail to meet commitments because of unfixed Y2K problems.
November 1999	85%	44%	41	13	1	1	69	55
QA23P. The Federal Reserve Board, which oversees our banks.****
April 1999	83%	50%	33	15	<1	1	66	52
August 1998	75%	38%	37	24	1	1	56	41
QA20. Leaders of large corpo-rations, banks, electric utilities, etc.
November 1999	82%	43%	39	16	1	1	61	47
April 1999	86%	47%	39	13	1	1	66	49
August 1998	77%	40%	37	21	1	1	59	42
QB24. Corporate leaders who con-ducted business as usual or focused on financial dealings, mergers and acquisitions instead of concentrating on solving our real problems.
April 1999	81%	39%	42	16	1	2	58	42
QB23. The SEC, the Securities and Exchange Commission, whose job is to hold corporations accountable to stockholders and the public.
November 1999	80%	40%	40	16	1	<1	61	43
April 1999	82%	38%	43	13	1	2	60	42
August 1998	75%	36%	39	22	1	3	54	36
QB20. The U.S. Congress
November 1999	77%	31%	46	22	<1	1	53	33
April 1999	81%	40%	41	16	1	2	59	36
August 1998	67%	29%	38	32	<1	1	45	25
QA24. Political leaders who were more concerned with politics as usual than with solving problems that are important to everybody.
November 1999	73%	30%	43	25	1	1	47	26
April 1999	85%	45%	40	14	<1	1	61	49
QA22. The media which did not make the situation clear enough to viewers and readers.
April 1999	66%	24%	42	33	<1	2	34	19
August 1998	66%	25%	41	33	1	<1	39	18
QA23. John Koskinen, sometimes called the White House Y2K Czar, has been accused of being unduly optimistic. His Y2K preparedness recommendation for every house-hold is that you should have at least three days of supplies on hand, just as you would if you knew stores would be closed during a three day storm. How much responsibility would he have if Y2K turns out to be a disaster because a three day supply proved totally inadequate for millions of people?
November 1999	60%	27%	33	32	1	3	34	20
QA19. Bill Clinton
November 1999	60%	28%	32	39	1	1	36	24
April 1999	69%	29%	39	29	<1	2	38	22
August 1998	59%	23%	36	39	1	1	35	17
QB22. Television, which focused on entertainment and ratings, rather than the real news.
April 1999	56%	22%	34	42	<1	2	31	20
August 1998	51%	20%	31	48	1	1	28	15
QB19P. Al Gore*****
April 1999	40%	12%	28	53	1	5	23	12
August 1998	34%	10%	23	61	1	4	18	10

* Interviewers were instructed to explain, if necessary, that "Accountable" means that the person or group must make a full disclosure of what they knew about the Y2K problem.   Respondents were told, after the first item in the series, that "Legally Liable" means "that there SHOULD be laws, including fines and imprisonment, to punish people who are guilty of causing the Y2K problem."
** QB21 was numbered as QA21 in previous studies.
*** QB21P was numbered QB21 in previous studies.
**** QA23P was numbered QA23 in previous studies.
***** QB19P was numbered QB19 in previous studies.

I’m going to read a few things that people can do that might help solve the Y2K problem. For each one, please tell me if you have ever done that activity. (IF HAVE DONE, ASK:) Would you consider doing something like that, or would you probably never do anything like that?

Rank-Ordered by Percent "Have Done"

	Have Done	Would Consider	Never Consider	DK/ Ref	Done/ Consider
QA29. Obtain emergency supplies, extra water, batteries, canned food or medical kits to deal with a disaster caused by Y2K.*
November 1999	30%	39	30	1	69%
April 1999**	19%	39	39	3	58%
August 1998**	10%	39	46	4	49%
QA28. Ask a local bank manager, insurance carrier, mutual fund or financial advisor what steps they are taking to protect your assets and property.
November 1999	29%	34	36	1	63%
April 1999	26%	46	25	3	72%
August 1998	13%	61	22	4	74%
QB28. Ask your electric utility or water company, if it can assure uninterrupted consumer service in the year two thousand.
April 1999	10%	54	32	4	64%
August 1998	4%	59	33	4	63%
QA30A. Go to a meeting open to the public in your community with local officials and Y2K experts who will discuss what is being done or could be done to reduce the negative impact of Y2K on our lives and where everybody can hear the ideas of the public on Y2K mitigation.
November 1999	8%	40	51	1	48%
April 1999	7%	59	33	2	66%
QB29. Purchase a home system offering self-reliant power supplies such as solar panels, cell phones, and two-way radios – to deal with a disaster caused by Y2K.
April 1999	8%	29	59	4	37%
August 1998	8%	28	58	6	36%
QB30. Volunteer in your local community to join in or organize a Citizen’s Committee on Y2K to work with local officials and media.
April 1999	2%	36	57	5	38%
August 1998	2%	37	57	4	39%

*QB19P was numbered QB19 in previous studies.
**August and April wording: "Purchase emergency supplies, generators, batteries, canned food, or medical kits to deal with a disaster caused by Y2K."

Thinking about what may happen in the year two thousand…

QA31. Do you think that at some point as the Y2K situation develops, many, some or very few people will react according to the old saying, "Every man for himself"?

	Nov 1999	Apr 1999	Aug 1998
Many	34%	39%	36%
Some	37	40	33
Very few	25	19	27
Depends (VOL)	28	29	40
Don’t know	3	1	2
Refused/NA			<1

QB32A. The National Guard has sometimes been used to assist in maintaining law and order and to help Americans in distress as a result of major national disasters. If you heard that the President was going to call up the National Guard in connection with Y2K, what would be your primary reaction.

	Nov 1999	Apr 1999
The Guard would reassure people and help prevent an increase in crime.	59%	58%
The Guard is not prepared or trained enough, and might do more harm than good.	19	25
Widespread deployment of the Guard would infringe on our civil rights.	14	16
Depends (VOL)	3	2
Don’t know/Refused/NA	6	4

Because Y2K appears to many as a disaster in the making, people may come forward and make propositions about what can be done to make things better. I will read some of the propositions you might hear. For each one, please tell me if you agree or disagree with it? (IF AGREE/DISAGREE, ASK:) Would that be STRONGLY agree/disagree or just SOMEWHAT agree/disagree or just SOMEWHAT agree/disagree?

Rank-Ordered by Percent Strongly Agree

	Str Agree	Smwt Agree	Neith/ DK	Smwt Dis	Str Dis	Collapsed
						Agr	Disagr
QB38. Y2K induced outages, like electric power brown-outs, transportation failures, or other shortages probably will occur only regionally and for a few days at a time in ways that vary over different parts of the country. Since this is a lot like bad weather, radio and TV weather channels, including portable all-hazards weather radio, should be required to inform the public by immediately releasing government Y2K emergency updates.
November 1999	60%	26	2	6	4	86%	11
April 1999	66%	22	2	6	4	88%	10
QA33. The Securities and Exchange Commission and bank regulators, like the Federal Reserve Board, should require full disclosure to the public by all corporations and banks on their Y2K progress.
November 1999	59%	26	<1	7	7	85%	14
April 1999	66%	22	1	6	3	89%	10
QA37. Some arm of government, like the Federal Emergency Management Agency, should furnish regular Y2K Preparedness Updates that radio and TV channels must carry that give accurate news on the ability of government, businesses, hospitals and other institutions to deliver us needed goods and services and that will advise people on what we should do about Y2K.
November 1999	54%	30	2	7	7	84%	15
April 1999	55%	31	2	7	5	86%	12
QA35. We should reshape the laws governing our telecommunications industry to assure that our radio, television, the Internet, and all other mass media operate in the public interest and are required to inform the public fully about such issues as Y2K.
November 1999	52%	30	2	8	7	82%	15
April 1999	56%	29	2	8	6	84%	14
August 1998	54%	26	3	9	7	80%	17
QB33. Simpler, more decentralized back-up systems for production, accounting, and communications, should be maintained so that your community can retain more options and be more self-reliant.
November 1999	51%	36	1	5	6	87%	11
April 1999	52%	35	2	5	4	88%	10
August 1998	48%	41	3	6	2	89%	8
QA38. The modern world has become too dependent on computers and other complex technologies.
November 1999	48%	23	1	13	15	71%	28
April 1999	52%	21	<1	13	14	73%	27
August 1998	48%	25	2	12	14	72%	26
QA34. Companies which innovate computer technologies should prepare voluntary social impact assessments and publish them, so that the public can understand the tradeoffs in such new technologies before they become widespread and displace existing systems.
November 1999	45%	35	2	10	6	80%	16
April 1999	46%	40	2	8	4	86%	12
August 1998	45%	35	4	8	7	80%	16
QA36. The government should keep its hands off the technological revolution that is improving our standard of living in so many ways.
November 1999	30%	30	2	23	13	60%	36
April 1999	26%	28	4	25	17	54%	42
August 1998	29%	30	4	22	16	58%	38
QB37. The government should keep its hands off the technological revolution that is improving our standard of living in so many ways. That is much more beneficial and important to us than the cost of whatever damage Y2K may do.
November 1999	26%	28	2	23	17	55%	41
April 1999	24%	30	5	24	18	53%	42
QB34. The U.S. Office of Technology Assessment used to evaluate large-scale technological innovations for their social impact and release results to Congress and the public. This office was abolished in 1996, but the Y2K problem shows that this was a mistake. The office should be reinstated.
November 1999	24%	29	5	21	17	53%