HIV/AIDS at 30: A Public Opinion Perspective

The 2011 Survey of Americans on HIV/AIDS is the eighth comprehensive national survey of the public on HIV/AIDS conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation since 1995. The current survey was designed and analyzed by public opinion researchers at the Kaiser Family Foundation led by Mollyann Brodie, Ph.D., including Liz Hamel, Claudia Deane, Bianca DiJulio, Sarah Cho and Theresa Boston, with input from Jennifer Kates and Tina Hoff. The survey was conducted April 4 through May 1, 2011, among a nationally representative random sample of 2,583 adults ages 18 and older. Telephone interviews conducted by landline (846), and cell phone (1,737, including 924 who had no landline telephone) were carried out in English and Spanish by Princeton Survey Research Associates International. The full sample includes oversamples of black and Latino respondents as well as respondents ages 18-29, which were completed to ensure there were enough respondents in these groups for separate analysis. Because of the greater propensity of these groups to live in households with no landline phone, a greater share of interviews were conducted by cell phone than is often the case with national surveys. Results for all groups have been weighted to reflect their actual distribution in the nation.

The number of respondents and the margin of sampling error for key subgroups are presented in the table below. For results based on other subgroups, the margin of sampling error may be higher. Note that sampling error is only one of many potential sources of error in this or any other public opinion poll. Also note that due to sample size limitations of this national random sample survey, we are not able to separately present data for gay men, or for other smaller subgroups of the population who are at higher risk for HIV. The views of these groups are included in the national data in proportion to their share of the overall population.

	Number of respondents	Margin of sampling error
Total	2,583	+/- 3 percentage points
Whites	1,351	+/- 4 percentage points
Blacks	519	+/- 6 percentage points
Latinos	527	+/- 6 percentage points
Age 18-29	873	+/- 5 percentage points

“VOL” indicates that a response was volunteered by respondent, not an explicitly offered choice.

Due to rounding, percentages may not add to 100.

Full question wording and results of this survey can be viewed online at http://www.kff.org/kaiserpolls/8186.cfm.