Our most recent ABC News/Washington Post poll looks at views on terrorism after the Paris attacks, the 2016 election and other current issues. It’s received pickup beyond ABC and the Post in Politico (here, here and here), CNN, The Hill (here and here), the National Journal, MSNBC, the Boston Globe, Time, the IBTimes (here and here) and Xinhuanet, among others. See our reports here.

The international development nonprofit Counterpart International has published a detailed impact assessment of the Bangladesh Leadership Development Program, a civic engagement program implemented by Counterpart and funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development.

The 155-page study, designed and produced by Langer Research Associates, compares pre- and post-training surveys of participants’ civic values, tolerance, democratic orientation, knowledge, efficacy and engagement. Based on in-person interviews with 3,500 LDP participants, it builds on a first-wave baseline study in 2013, using Cohen’s d to measure the effect sizes of observed differences between the two samples.

The assessment finds that the LDP produced significant, positive advances in trainees’ political and community engagement and commitment to community development. Participants emerged from their training with a greater understanding of democracy and community development issues, broader belief in their own ability to effect change, enhanced acceptance of others and more extensive involvement in community activities.

Areas for additional focus were identified, offering useful lessons for future community leadership training. Gains were limited among those who had prior training, more education or higher initial civic awareness, suggesting that such participants would benefit from an enhanced training curriculum or mentoring roles. Results indicated a need to offer particular support to those with more difficult living conditions. And close monitoring and oversight of the performance of implementing partners is warranted.

Survey field work and data processing were directed by D3 Systems, Inc., of Vienna, Va., and carried out by Org-Quest Research Ltd. of Dhaka, Bangladesh. See the full report here.

A new Fusion 2016 Issues Poll finds that one in four young adults is stressing over student loans, with a broad gender gap. Forty percent of the nation’s 18- to 35-year-olds have taken out a student loan, the national survey finds, with a current median balance of $18,000. Six in 10 call these loans a cause of stress – with women more apt than men both to have taken out student loans and to call them a source of stress in their lives. The national, random-sample survey is the second in a new series of polls of millennials produced for the network by Langer Research Associates. See Fusion’s report here.

DRI-The Voice of the Defense Bar today began releasing results from their fourth annual national survey of public attitudes on the U.S. civil justice system. Among other results, the survey, produced by Langer Research Associates, finds broad public opposition to legislative and executive interference in the work of the courts. See the DRI National Poll Highlights here.

Fusion today released the first in a new series of polls of millennials we are producing for the network. Focused on social and political issues of concern to the millennial generation, the Fusion issues poll will be an ongoing fixture in the election year ahead. Fusion, a joint venture between Univision Communications Inc. and Disney/ABC, is a multi-platform media company that champions a young, diverse and inclusive world.

The first installment finds overwhelming support for birthright citizenship and for a pathway to legal status for undocumented immigrants who arrive in the United States as children. Millennials also broadly reject the suggestion that undocumented immigrants take jobs others want. And the survey finds that four in 10 millennials say they personally know someone whom they believe is an undocumented immigrant. See Fusion’s report here.

On the publication front, Research Analyst Chad Kiewiet de Jonge’s article “Who Lies About Electoral Gifts? Experimental Evidence from Latin America” was published in the fall issue of Public Opinion Quarterly, the flagship peer-reviewed journal of the American Association for Public Opinion Research. The article reports on a series of survey experiments on vote buying included in 10 post-electoral surveys in eight Latin American countries. Kiewiet de Jonge shows that misreporting of the practice is higher among more educated citizens, those who are sensitive to perceptions of socioeconomic status and in countries where electoral gifts and favors are more valuable.

Our latest ABC News/Washington Post poll out this week covers the 2016 election, views on Kim Davis’ refusal to issue gay marriage licenses and the Iran nuclear deal. It’s received wide pickup beyond ABC and the Post, including the National Journal, the Huffington Post (here andhere), The Hill (here, here, and here), NBC News, Politico (here, here, here and here), the New York Post, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel,Newsweek, Time, AJC (here and here), the IBTimes, Xinhuanet and the Daily Mail. See our reports here.

Our ABC News/Washington Post poll on candidate favorability has been picked up by outlets including Politico, the Chicago Sun-Times and Fox News, among others – as well, of course, as ABC and the Post. It’s received more than 1,300 comments and 4,400 Facebook likes on ABCNews.com.

Our latest ABC News/Washington Post poll on the 2016 presidential contest has received wide attention this week, with coverage by a range of media outlets beyond ABC and the Post. Those include The Economist, USA Today, Politico, Salon, CNN, Bloomberg News, The Christian Science Monitor, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, the Hill, the Guardian, the Daily Mail, the Los Angeles Times, the San Francisco Examiner, the Boston Globe, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and… yes, People magazine. At ABCNews.com, our piece has received more than 1,450 comments, 2,400 Facebook likes and 975 tweets.

We’re pleased to announce the addition of Chad P. Kiewiet de Jonge to our team of research analysts, as well as two promotions of existing staff.

Kiewiet de Jonge is an expert in elections, survey methodology and international public opinion, with experience designing, implementing and analyzing surveys in domestic and international settings. He received doctoral and master’s degrees in political science from the University of Notre Dame and joins us from the Center for Research and Teaching in Economics (CIDE) in Mexico City, where he served as an assistant professor of political science. Chad previously spent four years as a graduate research assistant at the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago.

Among our existing staff:

• Julie E. Phelan, Ph.D., has been promoted to the position of vice president. Phelan has been with our company since its inception, serving as lead analyst, chief statistician and methodologist on a wide range of complex projects.
• Gregory G. Holyk, Ph.D., has been promoted to the position of senior research analyst. He has taken a leading role in many projects, including our ongoing ABC News/Washington Post polls and our participation on behalf of ABC on the survey committee of the network news exit poll consortium.

Welcome to Chad, and congratulations to Julie and Greg!