PEW RESEARCH CENTER FOR THE PEOPLE & THE PRESS FEBRUARY 2004 NEWS INTEREST INDEX February 11 - 16, 2004

Pew Research Center – February 2004 News Interest Index Conducted February 11–16, 2004 (N=1,500), this nationally representative survey explores public opinion on state favorability and perceived causes of the federal deficit. A data collection error affected responses to Q54a, resulting in only one-third of respondents from nine key states being asked to rate their own state. A corrective weight (q54a_wgt) was applied to adjust for this imbalance. The dataset also includes a constructed variable (q38tot) that aggregates responses from Q37a–d into a unified measure of perceived deficit causes.