Web Survey

The Escaped Prisoner

A man had been sent to prison for 10 years. After one year, however, he escaped from prison, moved to a new area of the country, and took on the name of Thompson. For eight years he worked hard, and gradually he saved enough money to buy his own business. He was fair to his customers, gave his employees top wages, and gave most of his own profits to charity. Then one day, Ms. Jones, an old neighbor, recognized him as the man who had escaped from prison eight years before and for whom the police had been looking.


Your Identification
Please supply the information requested below. Your school ID number and other data will be used to correlate data between surveys, etc. All information is strictly confidential and your ID will not be used for any other purpose.



*Q1.		Please type in your course name and section, e.g., MGT-612ST



*Q2.		Type in the LAST four (4) digits of your school ID number, no spaces, no dashes, etc.



Q3.		Type in your e-mail address in case it is necessary to contact you. For example, to give feedback or scores.

Q4.

Ethnicity
(Optional Question)

	African American, Black
	Native American, Alaskan Native
	Asian American
	Asian, & Indian Subcontinent
	Hispanic, Latino
	Mexican American, Chicano

	Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander
	Puerto Rican
	White, Caucasian
	Other
	Not Answered

Q5.

What School are you attending?

	Stevens Institute of Technology
	NYU

	Pace University
	Columbia

Q6.

What degree are you earning?

	BA/BS
	MA/MS

	Executive Masters
	Doctorate

	Certificate
	Auditing

Q7.

How far are you towards your degree?

	Up to 25%
	Up to 50%

	Up to 75%
	Finishing up !



Q8.		What is your age?

Q9.

Gender?

Female

Male


The Defining Issues Instrument - Instructions
This instrument assesses your opinions about controversial social issues. Different people make decisions about these issues in different ways. You should answer the questions for yourself without discussing them with others. You are presented with three stories. Following each story are 12 statements or questions. Your task after reading the story is to rate each statement in terms of its importance in making a decision. After rating each statement, select the four most important statements and rank them from one to four in the spaces provided. Each statement should be ranked in terms of its relative importance in making a decision. Some statements will raise important issues, but you should ask yourself whether the decision should rest on that issue. Some statements sound high and lofty but are largely gibberish. If you cannot make sense of a statement, or if you don't understand its meaning, mark it 5 - "Of no importance." All responses will be kept in absolute confidence. Please read each statement or question carefully, and then choose the four (4) you deem most important and rank them according to the following: 1 = Of Great Importance 2 = Of Much Importance 3 = Of Some Importance 4 = Of Little Importance 5 = Of No Importance

		Should report him	Can't decide	Should not report him

*11	Should Ms. Jones report Mr. Thompson to the police and have him sent back to prison?


Statements - The Escaped Prisoner

		Of Great Importance	Of Much Importance	Of Some Importance	Of Little Importance	Of No Importance

*1.	Hasn't Mr. Thompson been good enough for such a long time to prove he isn't a bad person?

*2.	Every time someone escapes punishment for a crime, doesn't that just encourage more crime?

*3.	Wouldn't we be better off without prisons and the oppression of our legal system?

*4.	Has Mr. Thompson really paid his debt to society?

*5.	Would society be failing what Mr. Thompson should fairly expect?

*6.	What benefit would prison be apart from society, especially for a charitable man?

*7.	How could anyone be so cruel and heartless as to send Mr. Thompson to prison?

*8.	Would it be fair to prisoners who have to serve out their full sentences if Mr. Thompson is let off?

*9.	Was Ms. Jones a good friend of Mr. Thompson?

*10.	Wouldn't it be a citizen's duty to report an escaped criminal, regardless of the circumstances?

*11.	How would the will of the people and the public good be best served?

*12.	Would going to prison do any good for Mr. Thompson or protect anybody?



*XIII		Most Important Question -- Type one question number (1 - 12) in the box



*XIV		Second Most Important Question-- Type one question number (1 - 12) in the box



*XV		Third Most Important Question -- Type one question number (1 - 12) in the box



*XVI		Fourth Most Important Question -- Type one question number (1 - 12) in the box.

		The doctor should give the woman an overdose that will make her die.	Can't decide.	Should not give the overdose.

*17	What should the doctor do?


Statements - The Doctor's Dilemma

		Of Great Importance	Of Much Importance	Of Some Importance	Of Little Importance	Of No Importance

*1.	Is the woman's family in favor of giving her the overdose?

*2.	Is the doctor obligated by the same laws as everybody else?

*3.	Would people be better off without society regimenting their lives and even their deaths?

*4.	Should the doctor make the woman's death from a drug overdose appear to be an accident?

*5.	Does the state have the right to force continued existence on those who don't want to live?

*6.	What is the value of death prior to society's perspective on personal values?

*7.	Should the doctor have sympathy for the woman's suffering, or should he/she care more about what society might think?

*8.	Is helping to end another's life ever a responsible act of cooperation?

*9.	Can only God decide when a person's life should end?

*10.	What values has the doctor set for him/herself in his/her own personal code of behavior?

*11.	Can a society afford to let anybody end his or her life whenever he or she desires?

*12.	Can society allow suicide or mercy killing and still protect the lives of individuals who want to live?



*XIX		Most Important Question -- Type one question number (1 - 12) in the box



*XX		Second Most Important Question -- Type one question number (1 - 12) in the box



*XXI		Third Most Important Question -- Type one question number (1 - 12) in the box



*XXII		Fourth Most Important Question -- Type one question number (1 - 12) in the box.

		Should stop it.	Can't decide.	Should not stop it.

*23	What should the principal do?


Statements - The Newspaper

		Of Great Importance	Of Much Importance	Of Some Importance	Of Little Importance	Of No Importance

*1.	Is the principal more responsible to the students or to the parents?

*2.	Did the principal give his word that the newspaper could be published for a long time, or did he just promise to approve the newspaper one issue at a time?

*3.	Would the students start protesting even more if the principal stopped the newspaper?

*4.	When the welfare of the school is threatened, does the principal have the right to give orders to students?

*5.	Does the principal have the freedom of speech to say no in this case?

*6.	If the principal stopped the newspaper, would he be preventing full discussion of important problems?

*7.	Would the principal's stop order make Fred loose faith in him?

*8.	Is Fred really loyal to his school and patriotic to his country?

*9.	What effect would stopping the paper have on the students' education in critical thinking and judgment?

*10.	Is Fred in any way violating the rights of others in publishing his own opinions?

*11.	Should the principal be influenced by some angry parents when it is the principal who knows best what is going on in the school?

*12.	Is Fred using the newspaper to stir up hatred and discontent?



*XXV		Most Important Question -- Type one question number (1 - 12) in the box



*XXVI		Second Most Important Question -- Type one question number (1 - 12) in the box



*XXVII		Third Most Important Question -- Type one question number (1 - 12) in the box



*XXVIII		Fourth Most Important Question -- Type one question number (1 - 12) in the box.