GALLUP NEWS SERVICE
For the eighth year in a row, Americans rate the honesty and ethical standards of pharmacists highest among twenty-six occupations surveyed by the Gallup Poll. Car salesmen again hold the dubious honor of finishing dead last, as they have every time since their initial appearance in 1977. Nearly two-thirds (64%) of those surveyed in mid-December rate pharmacists' standards as very high or high, compared with only 8% for car salesmen.
The most significant change from 1995 in the rankings of the selected occupations concerns the police; ranked high/very high by 49% of respondents, they rebounded eight points from last year's 41%. More modest gains were registered by U.S. congressmen -- rated very high/high by 14%, a gain of 4 points -- and senators (15%, up 3 percentage points), thus halting the downward spiral in Americans' views of federal lawmakers over the last few years. College teachers also registered a 3-point gain; at 55%, they have risen to third place on the list, trailing only pharmacists and the perennial runners-up, the clergy (56%). Only three other professions rate highly: medical doctors (55%), dentists (53%) and engineers (48%).
Racial Divisions
As in 1995, the most decisive differences of opinion follow racial
lines. While some occupations are ranked similarly by both whites
and non-whites -- doctors, pharmacists and dentists in particular
-- the views of these two groups diverge significantly on the
honesty and ethical standards of some other occupations. The two
most prominent, as was true in last year's survey, are the police
and the clergy. Fifty-one percent of whites rate the honesty and
ethics of the police as very high or high, compared with only 32%
of non-whites, a 19-point difference. The disparity (26 points) is
even greater for the clergy: 60% of whites but only 34% of
non-whites give them high marks.
Conversely, more non-whites (29%) give high marks to lawyers than do whites (14%), although the disparity is 6 points smaller than last year, when 35% of non-whites ranked them highly. Non-whites are also more likely to laud the standards of congressmen (22% to 14%) and senators (20% to 13%).
Survey Methods
The results are based on telephone interviews with a randomly
selected national sample of 813 adults, 18 years and older,
conducted December 9-11, 1996. For results based on samples of this
size, one can say with 95 percent confidence that the error
attributable to sampling and other random effects could be plus or
minus 4 percentage points. In addition to sampling error, question
wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can
introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion
polls.
Please tell me how you would rate the honesty and ethical standards of people in these different fields -- very high, high, average, low, or very low? First,... Next,...(ROTATED)
| Honesty & Ethics: 26 Occupations (Based on those saying "high" or "very high" combined) |
||||||
| Very High | High | Average | Low | Very Low | No opinion | |
| Druggists, pharmacists | 14% | 50 | 30 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
| Clergy | 18% | 38 | 30 | 7 | 2 | 5 |
| College teachers | 11% | 44 | 33 | 4 | 1 | 7 |
| Medical doctors | 11% | 44 | 35 | 7 | 2 | 1 |
| Dentists | 8% | 45 | 38 | 5 | 2 | 2 |
| Engineers | 9% | 39 | 41 | 2 | 1 | 8 |
| Policemen | 10% | 39 | 38 | 8 | 3 | 2 |
| Bankers | 3% | 23 | 59 | 9 | 3 | 3 |
| Funeral directors | 6% | 29 | 46 | 10 | 3 | 6 |
| Journalists | 3% | 20 | 50 | 19 | 4 | 4 |
| TV reporters, commentators | 4% | 19 | 49 | 19 | 7 | 2 |
| Druggists, pharmacists | 14% | 50 | 30 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
| Newspaper reporters | 2% | 5 | 48 | 24 | 7 | 4 |
| contractors | 3% | 20 | 49 | 18 | 4 | 6 |
| Senators | 2% | 13 | 48 | 26 | 8 | 3 |
| Lawyers | 3% | 14 | 39 | 27 | 14 | 3 |
| Business executives | 2% | 15 | 58 | 17 | 3 | 5 |
| Congressmen | 2% | 12 | 45 | 28 | 10 | 3 |
| Local officeholders | 2% | 17 | 57 | 16 | 4 | 4 |
| Labor union leaders | 3% | 13 | 39 | 29 | 9 | 7 |
| Real estate agents | 2% | 13 | 56 | 20 | 5 | 4 |
| Stockbrokers | 2% | 13 | 58 | 14 | 2 | 11 |
| State officeholders | 2% | 11 | 54 | 23 | 6 | 4 |
| Insurance salesmen | 1% | 10 | 49 | 29 | 8 | 3 |
| Advertising practitioners | 1% | 10 | 46 | 28 | 9 | 6 |
| Car salesmen | 2% | 6 | 29 | 42 | 18 | 3 |
| Public opinion pollsters | 4% | 20 | 54 | 12 | 4 | 6 |
