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The following feature story appeared in the campus publication Mosaic in December, 1996.
Diane Colasanto '73
Changing the nature of public debate through opinion polling
Public opinion researcher Diane Colasanto '73 never suspected that the neighborhood where she grew up in Hartford's South End would hold the key to her future. But it was there, while conducting interviews for a Trinity sociology class, that she began to see the old and familiar with new and different eyes. She remembers that, in the process of analyzing the data she had collected, she uncovered the potential of that data, and discovered for the first time the power of social research."A light bulb went on," Colasanto said in recalling the incident that started her career in public opinion research. "It wasn't so much in looking at the individual interviews and conversations but rather in analyzing the data that I was able to look at relationships and associations and see how they affected a person's answers. I got a whole new understanding of how social structure affects individuals."
That epiphany set Colasanto on a new course, and today, after earning advanced degrees in sociology, teaching at a university, and working for The Gallup Organization, she is president and co-owner of Princeton Survey Research Associates, a survey design and analysis firm that conducts political and social research for the country's top media companies, non-profit associations, government agencies, and corporations. As president of the Princeton, New Jersey-based firm, she is responsible for managing its daily operations and the acquisition of new business.
Understanding public opinion
Colasanto said that because her company's research is aimed at describing and understanding public opinion, it can quite profoundly, if indirectly, influence public policy. "We try to find out what attitudes people hold and why they hold them. By giving the public and policymakers information on what the public is thinking, we can change the nature of a debate," she observed. "It's really gratifying to figure out what's missing in what people know and how that fits into the debate. It's there where we can make a contribution."
A telling example of such a missing piece presented itself in a survey she conducted in 1983 for a Newsweek magazine article about abortion. "I suggested that we ask respondents a simple question: 'Do you ever wonder if your position is the right one?' We were astonished to find that 40 percent of people favoring pro-choice and 40 percent of those favoring pro-life said, 'I'm really not that sure.' Up until that time, the debate had been characterized as being intensely polarized, with people committed intractably to their points of view. The survey results we published had the effect of shifting the way people thought about the debate."
Colasanto's enthusiasm for social research was sparked when she transferred to Trinity during her sophomore year at Clark University. "I really discovered something that I loved at Trinity. I got exposed to doing surveys and analyzing public opinion in a way that, at that time, was unusual for an undergraduate sociology student. It was an amazing place for a small college," she said.
Colasanto said that social research allowed her to use her quantitative and research skills in a totally different way. That newfound ability was encouraged and nurtured by Professor of Sociology, Emeritus, Norman Miller. "She was the most competent student I ever had," Miller said in remembering his former student. "She knew exactly how to do anything she wanted to do. And she did it with a serenity and self-confidence that were extraordinary."
Careful and clever data analysis
A sociology and psychology double-major who graduated with honors, Colasanto claims it was under Miller's tutelage that she discovered "how much you can learn from careful and clever analysis of data." After earning a master's and a doctoral degree in sociology from the University of Michigan, Colasanto taught courses in research methods and analysis and directed special degree programs in analysis at the University of Wisconsin for six years.
While in Wisconsin, Colasanto worked as a consultant for the state and realized that she would rather be practicing her skills than teaching them. So in 1983 she joined Gallup as chief methodologist, with responsibility for sampling, data quality, and complex statistical analysis. She advanced to senior vice president before leaving to form her own company six years ago. Today her firm has expanded to 23 employees with a professional staff of 15 who perform research on behalf of such notable and varied clients as Newsweek, the Pew Research Center, and the American Association of Retired Persons on topics as diverse as health care, consumer behavior, and racial attitudes.
After more than two decades, Colasanto still maintains her initial enthusiasm for her field. "You develop a feel for people, how they think, and how they react to things when you're in this business. You have to go into it liking that or else it won't be as much fun." What does her future hold? Colasanto says she will continue trying to understand why people think the way they do, and, in the process, continue helping to change the nature of public debate in our country.
-- Suzanne Zack