This fact alone reflects a change in the sample's demographics, wherein the middle- to higher-class income respondents had more likely answered the said poll, and is, in effect, not representative of American society in general.
Responses given for the poll, as discussed earlier, were not clearly stated. The responses provided do not reflect absolutism and definitiveness. In fact, the use of "better" and "worse" in the responses show that they are not located at the opposite ends of the improvement spectrum, but rather, in the middle.
Assuming that the question was clearly understood as asking of U.S. In general or on the overall, the responses are to be interpreted as follows: "81% of CNN online pollers reported that the country has worsened since 9/11." Note that the sample is specifically stated and limited to CNN online pollers, in addition to the observation that the term "worsened" was not stated in levels or degrees from which the reader could possibly assess the country's improvement quantitatively.
Provided that I be asked the question, "On the overall, how has the U.S. changed since 9/11," I will respond to it unfavorably. And given a rating scale of improvement from 1 to 10 (10 being the best or most improved), I would rate U.S.'s level of improvement since 9/11 as...
This exercise showed an important aspect of social work ethics, which is transparency, honesty, and definitiveness when discussing a specific issue or concern relevant to the society.
Victims and relatives of victims of the 9/11 tragedy are the immediate people whose rights will be affected, since whatever outcome of the poll may be, the favorable or unfavorable results would have an impact (may contradict or not) their beliefs, thoughts, and feelings about the 9/11 attack.
There is no difference between my personal values and professional ethics. It is inevitable for me to separate my values in my work, since my values helped me enable to create my belief system, which I apply at work and with my responsibilities as a professional.
Though the issue is controversial, the manner in which the poll was addressed was not statistically significant and appropriate. Thus, the poll would have little or no effect to policy-making, whether this be a federal, state, or local policy.
