Courtesy of our friends at The Onion, we are pleased to bring you new results from a truly groundbreaking  Zogby poll!

Poll: 100% Of Grandsons Talented

November 9, 2009 | 14.02

ATLANTA—A Zogby poll of 1,542 American grandparents published Monday found that grandsons were described as “very” to “extremely” talented by 1,542 of the respondents. “Participants in the poll were emphatic in their descriptions of the talents of grandsons in fields as diverse as advertising and sales, choral performance, baseball, talking, crawling, making their beds, video games, and instructing their elders on proper cell-phone use,” pollster Tom Waterton said. “In addition, an overwhelming percentage of grandchildren were described as outgoing, sharp, and looking just like Uncle Andy, you remember Uncle Andy, he was always up to something, too bad he passed so young, he would have loved the grandchild in question.” Sources at Zogby admitted that the survey was incomplete, as several hundred pollsters are still unable to get their assigned grandparents off the phone.

Feel free to leave your own feelings about your talented grandsons in the comments!

Katy Uncategorized polls, satire, video, zogby

With all the recent hoopla surrounding the releases of The Beatles Rock Band video game and the Fab Four’s re-mastered back catalogue, you would think that every single breathing soul alive worships at the altar of John, Paul, George and Ringo.

However, according to a Zogby Interactive survey conducted last week, about one in five people actually say they do not like The Beatles. OK, so maybe that’s not an earth-shattering number, but still it’s substantial enough to warrant a closer look. Just who are these blasphemous people that don’t dig peace, love, and reenacted acid trips? I had to find out.

Well, I suppose we should start with the obvious. Republicans and Conservatives (30% each) are the two most likely groups to say they do not like our beloved Beatles, whereas Liberals (9%) and Democrats (14%) are among the least likely to say so. Maybe if we asked about Ted Nugent or the Charlie Daniels Band things would have shaken out differently.

It should come as no surprise that the Woodstock generation (18%) is the least likely age cohort to say they don’t like The Beatles, but I found it somewhat surprising that the Privates (25%) and the Nikes (25%) were dead even in their disdain, and that First Globals™ were not far behind (23%). Perhaps, as the decades roll on the band’s influence on the younger generations has waned a bit, or maybe the cynicism of said generations has run so amuck that they can’t even deem it cool to call themselves fans of probably the greatest band that ever existed.

Another semi-obvious tidbit, at least to me, is that college graduates (18%) are less likely than those without college degrees (25%) to say they like The Beatles. Because I mean really, if you weren’t actually alive during the comeuppance of The Beatles, chances are you discovered them in some black light illuminated dorm room whilst having your mind blown by “Across the Universe.”

In keeping with The Beatles theme of world-wide harmony, respondents who consider themselves residents of the planet earth (11%) are much less likely to say they don’t like The Beatles than are those who identify their residence as their city or town (24%) or America (25%), but the lads’ message doesn’t appear to translate evenly among the races, as we find that African-Americans (28%) and Hispanics (24%) are more likely than whites (20%) and Asians (16%) to not dig the vibes the band is laying down.

And finally while those who practice Transcendental Meditation were admittedly underrepresented, we find that Protestants (24%) and Catholics (22%) are more likely to dislike The Beatles than are Jewish respondents (12%) and followers of other religions (15%), as are Born Again Christians (28%) vs. Non-Born Again Christians (20%). Must have been all that satanic backwards message stuff.

- Post contributed by Phil Vanno, a Writer/Editor at Zogby International who once listened to “Strawberry Fields Forever” 50 times in a row and considered walking down the aisle to “All You Need is Love.” Phil’s opinion in no way represents that of Zogby International.

ZogbyFeaturedContributor Uncategorized Beatles, first globals, Generations, international, peace, race, religion, video, war, zogby

It’s shaping up to be a good, if expensive, week for survey researchers (and others) who are also Beatles fans. This Wednesday, Harmonix Music Systems will release the greatly anticipated The Beatles: Rock Band , a video game which will allow users to jam along with the Beatles interactively on the game’s electronic instruments. That same day, digitally remastered versions of all Beatles studio albums will be released . Serious aficionados will no doubt snap up the box set featuring 14 of these remastered CDs along with brief documentaries detailing the making of each CD.

In a nine page article in the New York Times describing the making of The Beatles: Rock Band, author Daniel Radosh describes the extensive involvement of surviving Beatles Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney as well as Yoko Ono and Olivia and Dhani Harrison in imagining, creating, refining, and publicizing the game. On the decision to place the Beatles in the center of the interactive video game cultural phenomenon, McCartney comments that “I think it reflects where the Beatles are at.. we are halfway between reality and mythology.” McCartney is also a fan of the game’s interactive nature, noting that “you want people to get engaged… [now people can feel as if] they possess or own the song, that they’ve been in it.”

Meanwhile, some pollsters are hard at work confirming hypotheses that will come as little surprise to Beatles fans: more than forty years after their last group recording, the Beatles are judged to be the most liked musical group in America, and their fans are found in every generation. Pew reports that 49% of those surveyed claimed they liked the Beatles “a lot”, and 81% like the Beatles overall. This is the highest favorability percentage for any of the 20 musical groups or artists included in Pew’s survey. The biggest fans are those between 50 and 64, with 65% of this age group liking the Beatles “a lot”, but fans are found in all age groups: 45% of those between 16 and 25 also like the Beatles “a lot”.

Are you a Beatles fan? Do you think any musical group will ever have a cultural or musical impact equal to the Beatles? Do you plan to purchase or play any of the Beatles-related music or games released this week?

Katy culture, lifestyles, media Beatles, best band ever, culture, entertainment, music, polls, video, work

by Rebecca Wittman

Well, not quite, but they appear to more concerned with humane issues than their elders. In two areas Zogby has polled – circuses and farm animals – New Globals appear ready to consider animals as beings worthy of empathy and consideration.

On Using Animals in Circuses

A majority of New Globals are opposed to using exotic animals like elephants, tigers, and bears in circuses, in fact, they are nearly one and a half times as likely as any other age group to feel that way – 51% under 30 opposed vs. an average of 38% over 30 who are opposed. And it isn’t just exotic animals they object to, they are also more likely than those over 30 to object to using domesticated animals like horses, cats, and dogs as circus acts (49% New Globals object vs. an average of 27% over 30 who object).

And when weighing two arguments about the treatment of animals used in circus acts, one postulating humane treatment (care by trained professionals who understand the animals’ needs and reinforcing natural behaviors as acts) and one postulating inhumane treatment (cramped cages, chaining, forced to perform unnatural behaviors), agreement with the notion that animals in circuses are treated inhumanely decreases with age, with New Globals (56%) most likely to agree that animals are treated inhumanely, while those over 65 are  the least likely to agree (36%).

On Treatment of Farm Animals

In a 2005 PETA poll, Zogby spoke with 300 15 to 23 year olds and discovered that humane issues were as likely or more likely to generate a move to vegetarianism than were personal or health issues.

So, New Globals may be the turning point in realizing better treatment for animals and an understanding that they deserve respect as individuals with intrinsic value outside their usefulness to humans. Here’s hoping so!

ZogbyFeaturedContributor consumption, culture, first globals, future animals, health, video, work, zogby

The first official meeting this week between  President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has renewed interest and debate over which policies the United States should pursue in the Middle East. Reporting on the visit , the New York Times mentions no less than five issues  the two leaders discussed and notes that the meeting “went on far longer than the hour initially planned.. so long, in fact, that the president rearranged his schedule for the rest of the day.”

As the official meeting was occurring, a second meeting took place across town when our own John Zogby, along with his brother and president of the Arab American Institute James Zogby, discussed the results about one of our recent interactive polls examining American attitudes towards the Middle East at a forum hosted by the New America Foundation .  Our poll found stark partisan divides between the attitudes of Democrats and Republicans on several key issues, including whether the US should “get tough with Israel” to stop the expansion of settlements (71% of Obama voters agree, compared to 26% of McCain voters)  and favorability towards Israeli PM Netanyahu (29% of Obama voters, view him “totally favorably” compared to 82% of McCain voters).  Both the Boston Globe and Robert Dreyfuss’s blog at The Nation have additional commentary on the discussion and our statistics. You can view the video of the discussion on Youtube , and on the New America Foundation’s website, you can  listen to the audio and view pictures from the discussion as well.

John Zogby wrote on the topic in his weekly column at Forbes.com, saying that: “How will this emerging political opinion affect the Obama administration’s policies regarding Israel? Obama will emphasize dialogue and conciliation regarding this matter, just as he does with most every issue he touches. The wind of public sentiment is at his back for just such an approach. The question will be how forcefully he tries to influence the Israelis to accept a two-state solution and a freeze on West Bank settlements.”

What do you think the future holds for America’s role in the Middle East?  How will the partisan divides revealed in our poll affect our policies in this area?

Katy Uncategorized future, John Zogby, middle east, Obama, politics, polls, video, war, zogby

Today is the day that millions of people are turning in their NCAA Basketball Tournament brackets. It seems like everybody is doing it, even President Barack Obama.  Obama posted his through ESPN’s Tournament Challenge, and even went on the network to explain his picks.

 The winner of the ESPN Contest gets $10,000. That’s big money compared to the typical office pool, but taken together, the FBI estimates that more than $2.5 billion  is illegally wagered annually on March Madness. 

According to the New York Times, in Las Vegas, casinos  expect nearly $100 million to be wagered on the tournament.  This year’s total take does seem to be down, reports the Chicago Tribune .  “Jay Kornegay, executive director of the Las Vegas Hilton race and sports book, said he expects overall betting on March Madness to drop by about 6 percent this year.”  The NY Times article also says that: “Online gambling for March Madness, largely through Web sites beyond the borders of the United States, already exceeds the take in Las Vegas.”

The really big bucks are to won by picking the winner of every game,  including one that  offers $12 million to whomever does that.

All of this untaxed spending is just another reason why some people want to make sports betting legal.  Among them is New Jersey State Sen. Raymond Lesniak, who plans to file a lawsuit in federal district court within the next two weeks to sue the federal government in a bid to overturn a 17-year-old ban on sports betting (four states are exempt, but only Nevada has it).  “Billions of dollars are being bet offshore through the Internet or through organized crime, and those are revenues that could be going to New Jersey,” Lesniak said.

 Should sports gambling be legal so that states can benefit from it, or would that spoil the fun and encourage unethical activity in college and pro sports?

Paul Uncategorized crime, internet, media, Obama, race, sports, technology, video, work

The computer industry is moving quickly into the creation and marketing of smartphones. However, consumers may need some time and information before they are ready to make full use of the computer capability of head-held devices.

On March 16, the New York Times  reported that:  Emboldened by Apple’s success with its iPhone, many PC makers and chip companies are charging into the mobile-phone business, promising new devices that can pack the horsepower of standard computers into palm-size packages.

“The action is really with the smartphones where everyone is competing to cram the most features into a phone,” said Linley Gwennap, a veteran chip industry analyst and head of the Linley Group. “I think of PCs as just kind of boring these days.”

The study surveyed approximately 3,000 mobile users in four markets — the U.S., U.K., Japan and Spain – between December 2008 and February 2009. Among the most notable results was that 70% have never downloaded an application to their mobile device. Also, younger people were more likely to understand and use these phones in much the same way as computers.

Meanwhile, on March 17, Nokia announced it was cutting 1,700 jobs due to decliniing demand for its cell phones. Reuters reports that:  “The overall cellphone market is expected to contract by about 10 percent this year, hurt as consumers rein in spending and handset sellers try to clear out unsold phones.”

How great is the market for smartphones? Do you have one, and how do you use it?  Can you see one ever replacing your need for a computer?

Paul Uncategorized international, internet, technology, video, war, zogby