CBS News/60 Minutes/Vanity Fair National Survey, March #3, 2011

This poll, fielded March 31 to April 3, 2011, is a part of a continuing series of monthly surveys that solicits public opinion on a range of political and social issues. Respondents were asked whether they approved of the way Barack Obama was handling his job as president, whether they thought the country was headed in the right direction, whether they felt they paid their fair share in federal income taxes, and whether they had already filed their income taxes. Opinions were gathered on the Catholic religion, Pope Benedict XVI, whether the Catholic Church has become more liberal or conservative under Pope Benedict, whether the Catholic Church is in touch with the needs of Catholics today, whether medical care at Catholic hospitals is better than that at non-Catholic hospitals, and whether Catholic hospitals perform legal medical procedures that go against church teachings. Respondents were queried on whether they thought that someone who practices artificial birth control, gets divorced, or has an abortion could still be a good Catholic, whether they thought that global warming is an environmental problem that is causing a serious impact now, and how much progress they thought has been made toward solving environmental problems since the first Earth Day 40 years ago. Respondents were then asked a number of questions about pets; whether they owned one, whether they considered it to be a member of the family, whether their pet slept with them, and how much money they would spend on them if they were sick. Additional topics included abortion, the legal drinking age, nuclear power plants, the space shuttle, Reuters, religious service attendance, the Tea Party movement, and the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Demographic information includes sex, age, race, marital status, education level, household income, employment status, religious preference, type of residential area (e.g., urban or rural), political party affiliation, political philosophy, voter registration status, and whether respondents thought of themselves as born again Christians.