60% Think Politics Behind Awarding of Nobel Prizes
Most Americans still question the prestige of the Nobel Prizes and think politics plays a part in who wins them.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 60% of American Adults think politics plays a role in the awarding of the Nobel Prizes. Eighteen percent (18%) disagree, while 22% more are not sure. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
The latest findings show little change from past two years. In 2008, only 40% believed politics played a role in awarding the Nobel Prizes. But that sentiment spiked much higher in October 2009 after the announcement that President Obama had won the Nobel Peace Prize within months after taking office.
Forty percent (40%) of adults say, generally speaking, a Nobel Prize is the most prestigious award a person can win, but 39% disagree and another 21% aren't sure. This, too, has changed little since October 2008 except in 2009 when following Obama's win 48% of Americans described the prize as the most prestigious one a person can get.
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The survey of 1,000 Adults was conducted on October 7-8, 2011 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.
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