| dc.description.abstract | A survey measuring objective knowledge of world events, opinions, and a comparitive sample was distributed in November, 1985 to two-hundred and fifty enlisted men of the 82nd Airborne Division in Fort Bragg, North Carolina. One-hundred and ninety-two surveys were returned for analysis.
The objective section sought to acertain the knowledge of world events, both current and historical. The opinions section attempted to measure the respondents' feelings about democracy. The comparitive portion of the survey directly compared the responses of the enlisted men to identical questions answered by civilians in a recent Harris Poll.
Each of the three sets of questions was scored and graphed according to nine variables which were part of the introduction sample of the survey. These variables were experience, rank, educational level, region of the country, race, combat experience, voter registration, voter participation, and political party. Significant relationships were then determined by the results of each of the twenty-seven graphs. Significant relationships were determined to be plus or minus five percent or approximately ten soldiers.
Experience, rank, and region of the country were found to have a significant relationship on scores in unit one. All variables EXCEPT combat experience were found to be significant in unit two. In unit three, all variables EXCEPT combat experience, voter registration, and voter participation were found to be significant relationships.
The results varied, but demonstrated that soldiers scores were affected by their military experience. When all data was assessed, it was determined that the soldiers performed significantly better on most portions of the survey than expected. Soldiers were found to be binary in their nature. In some aspects, they were different from civilians and other aspects similar. Most importantly, as soldiers, these men are prepared to defend the nation. This large task, after all, is their principle Job. | en |
