BI-ANNUAL ATTITUDE SURVEY OF STUDENTS (BASS):
Description
The purpose of the BASS research is to providean on-going examination of attitudes in a specific segment of the U.S. college students, ROTC cadets, and military academy cadets. To date, we have deployed the BASS as a biannual survey since late 2002. Each semester we survey approximately 100 students each from a civilian college or university, an ROTC program, and military academies. As of spring 2012, over 6,000 cadets and students from 49 different colleges and universities have completed the instrument. In the survey, we question attitudes toward a number of domains associated with military life such as military professionalism, civil-military relations, the role of the military in American society and the world, and the role of women, gays and lesbians in the military. We are continuing our analysis where we compare and contrast these attitudes both within groups and between the three groups and compare to findings of previous research to include a longitudinal analysis.
Benefits
- Improve pedagogy through better understanding of the political and social characteristics of cadets;
- Provides a mechanism for monitoring and flagging congruence between military academy cadets, ROTC cadets, and their civilian college counterparts in the U.S. and abroad;
- Creates a state–of-the-times database for cadets, officers in graduate school, and military academy and other faculty. Basis for high impact cadet research projects, and faculty-led research on vital issues affecting retention and performance of cadets and junior officers;
- Provides timely and rich policy-related data and research to inform ROTC programs, college faculties, staffs, and administrators, and military academy teachers, administrators, and military leaders.
Participants
- Any U.S. or foreign college undergraduate students, ROTC program, or military academy;
- Prefer first year students but not exclusive of other years;
- Pencil and paper survey;
- Requires 30-50 minutes to adminster;
- Human Subjects Review approved at West Point
- No costs to the campus.
Articles
- Ender, Morten G., David E. Rohall, Andrew J. Brennan, Michael D. Matthews, and Irving Smith (2012). “Civilian, ROTC, and military academy undergraduate attitudes toward homosexuals in the U.S. military,” Armed Forces & Society, 38(1):164-172.
- Matthews, Michael D., Morten G. Ender, Janice Laurence, and David E. Rohall. (2009). “Role of group affiliation and gender attitudes toward women in themilitary,” Military Psychology, 21(2):241-251.
- Rohall, David E., Morten G. Ender, and Michael D. Matthews (2006). “The effects of military affiliation, gender, and political ideology on attitudes toward the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.” Armed Forces & Society, 33(1):59-77.
Book Chapters
- Ender, Morten G., David E. Rohall, and Michael D. Matthews (2011). “Youth Attitudes towards the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan: Trends and Variations,” in Steve Carlton-Ford and Morten G. Ender (eds.). The Routledge Handbook of War and Society: Iraq and Afghanistan, pp. 294-305 (London & NY: Routledge). Info at: http://www.routledgestrategicstudies.com/books/Handbook-of-War-and-Society-isbn9780415567329.
- Ender, Morten G., David E. Rohall, and Michael D. Matthews (2009). “College Student Reactions to 9/11: Civilian, ROTC, and Military Academy Undergraduates,” in Matthew J. Morgan (ed.). The Day that Changed Everything?: An Interdisciplinary Series of Edited Volumes on the Impact of 9/11, pp. 253-264 (Vol. V: 9/11 in Psychology and Education) (NY: Palgrave-Macmillan). Info available at: http://us.macmillan.com/theimpactof911onpsychologyandeducation.
- Ender, Morten G., David E. Rohall, and Michael D. Matthews (2009). “Thinking Globally: U.S. Cadet and Civilian Undergraduate Attitudes toward Social Problems,” in Gerhard Kummel, Guiseppe Caforio, and Christopher Dandeker (eds.). Armed Forces, Soldiers and Civil-Military Relations: Essays in Honor of Jurgen Kuhlmann, pp. 191-210 (Weisbaden, Germany: Schriftenreihe des Sozialwissenschaftlichen Instituts der Bundeswehr). Info at: http://www.deutschesfachbuch.de/info/detail.php?isbn=3531163248
Presentations
- Ender, Morten G., David E. Rohall, and Michael D. Matthews. (2012). Undergraduate Attitudes toward the DREAM Act. A presentation at the 82nd Annual Meeting of the Eastern Sociological Society, New York City, NY (February 24).
- Rohall, David E. James Dowd, Morten G. Ender, and Michael Matthews (2011). Generational Divide?: Perspectives of Current and Future Military Leaders. Paper to be presented at the 81st Annual Meetings of the Eastern Sociological Society, Philadelphia, PA., February 25-27.
- Rohall, David E., Lindsay Cohn, Morten G. Ender, and Michael D. Matthews. (2010). Future Leaders’ Perspectives on National Defense: A Comparison of the BASS and TISS Studies, a paper to presented at the Annual Meetings of the American Sociological Association, Atlanta, GA (August 14).
- Rohall, David E., Morten G. Ender, and Michael D. Matthews (2009). Youth Attitudes Toward National Defense: Trends and Variations. A presentation at the Biennial International Meetings of the Inter-University Seminar on Armed Forces and Society, Chicago, IL (October 24).
- Ender, Morten G., Andrew J. Brennan, David E. Rohall, and Michael D. Matthews (2008). Attitudes toward Homosexuals in the Military: Military Academy, ROTC, and Civilian Undergraduate Comparisons. Paper presented at the Eastern Sociological Society meeting, (February 23).
- Rohall, David E., Morten G. Ender, and Michael D. Matthews. (2007). The Intersection of Race and Military Affiliation on Attitudes toward the Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Paper to be presented at the International Biennial Meetings of the Inter-University Seminar on Armed Forces & Society, Chicago, IL, October 25-28.
- Ender, Morten G., William White, Robert Morris, David Rohall, and Michael Matthews (2006). The Significance of Race?: Attitudes toward War in Afghanistan and Iraq among U.S. College Students. Paper presented at the Annual Meetings of the Eastern Sociological Society, Boston, MA (February 24-28).
- Matthews, M. D., Ender, M. G., & Rohall, D. E. (2005). Attitudes of ROTC cadets on use of military force: A comparative study. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, Washington, D.C.
- Rohall, D. E., Ender, M. G., & Matthews, M. D. (2004). Warriors or warmongers?: Attitudes toward the U.S. Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Paper presented at the American Sociological Association Meetings, San Fransisco, CA., August 14-17.
- Matthews, M. D., Ender, M. G., & Rohall, D. E. (2004). Student attitudes toward women in the military by institution type. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Psychological Association, Honolulu, Hawaii.
Manuscripts in preparation
- Cohn, Lindsay, David E. Rohall, Morten G. Ender, and Michael D. Matthews. “Future Leaders’ Attitudes on National Defense: A 1990s-2000s Generational Comparison.”
- Ender, Morten G., David E. Rohall, and Michael D. Matthews. “The Intersection of Race and Military Affiliation on Attitudes toward the Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.”
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Morten G. Ender is Professor of Sociology in the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership at the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York. His most recently taught courses include Cinematic Images of War & the Military; Organizational Leadership & Socialization; and Marriage & the Family. His research has appeared in The American Sociologist, Sociological Focus, Teaching Sociology, Journal of Adolescence, and Armed Forces & Society. His books include Military Brats and Other Global Nomads: Growing Up in Organization Families (Praeger, 2002)and Inequalities: Readings in Diversity and Social Life (Pearson, 2007; 2nd edition). He is completing a book-length manuscript titled American Soldiers in Iraq. He lives in Highland Falls, New York with his family where he enjoys jogging and skiing but is tired of working on his 100 year old house. Contact morten.ender@usma.edu or visit his faculty website. |
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Michael D. Matthews is Professor of Engineering Psychology at the United States Military Academy (“West Point”). He is a former Air Force officer and is President of the Society for Military Psychology (Division 19 of the American Psychological Association). Dr. Matthews is a Templeton Foundation Senior Positive Psychology Fellow, and his current research interests focus on the role of character strengths in soldier adaptation and performance in combat. Contact mike.matthews@usma.edu or visit his facuty website. |
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David E. Rohall is Associate Professor of Sociology at the Western Illinois University. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Maryland, College Park in 2000. His research focuses on the social psychology of military service, its impacts on the health and well-being of soldiers and their families, and the role of the military in society. He has published in numerous journals dealing with military issues including Armed Forces & Society and the Journal of Political and Military Sociology, among others. Visit Dr. Rothall website. |
 | Percent of University Undergraduates Favoring War In Afghanistan and Iraq* |
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Afganistan |
Iraq |
| West Point Cadets |
97% |
89% |
| ROTC Cadets/ Students |
96% |
83% |
| Civilian Students |
88% |
70% |
| Males |
98% |
87% |
Females |
84% |
65% |
| Republicans |
99% |
93% |
| Democrats |
89% |
67% |
* Based on the questions: “Did you favor or oppose the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan after the 9/11 terrorist attacks?” and “Do you currently favor or oppose military action, including the use of ground troops, in Iraq?” Responses were coded as 0 “Oppose” and 1 "Favor." Table published in Armed Forces & Society Rohall, (Rohall, Ender, and Matthews, 2006)
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