Key Words Influence Stands on Minorities : Polls find whites favor remedial programs--until ‘quotas’ or ‘preferences’ are mentioned.

Webster’s defines “affirmative action” as “a policy or program for correcting the effects of discrimination in the employment or education of members of certain groups . . . .” But the controversial term remains ill-defined in the courtroom, on Capitol Hill and among media commentators struggling over the question of what constitutes acceptable remedial opportunity.

And, as in many debates, the side that prevails in setting the definition has a leg up in the battle for public opinion. The stakes were illustrated recently as the fight over corrective civil rights legislation heated up in Washington. In an attempt to get the public’s view, the major opinion survey organizations waded into the fray--and got dramatically different results depending on the how they framed the questions.

For example, last June, pollster Louis Harris asked a sample of adults nationwide, “Do you favor or oppose federal laws requiring affirmative action programs for women and minorities in employment and education, provided there are no rigid quotas?”

The results: 75% were in favor, including 71% of whites and 93% of blacks. Just 22% opposed the suggestion.

Now consider a second result, from a Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll done just one month earlier. That poll’s question asked: “All in all, do you favor or oppose affirmative action programs in business for blacks and other minority groups?”

The question did not mention women. Nor did it specifically rule out the use of quotas. And it produced a much narrower 57%-to-33% margin of approval, with 86% of blacks but only 52% of whites approving.

The survey was conducted among registered voters, a somewhat older and more educated group than the public as a whole. Still, Journal/NBC pollsters note that, in the past, when they have added the phrase “no rigid quotas” to their question, support for “affirmative action” has risen substantially among voters.

Clearly, the word quotas is a grenade in the hands of those opposed to affirmative action programs. Discarding the term “affirmative action” and concentrating just on the question of “quotas,” a Gallup poll for Newsweek magazine asked a national cross section in April: “Are quotas necessary to accomplish fairness in education, hiring and promotion?”

Besides omitting the term “affirmative action,” neither women nor minorities were mentioned explicitly in the question. The result: Blacks supported quotas by a 61% to 26% margin. But whites opposed them by 59% to 29%.

Even less popular than quotas, it would seem, is any policy characterized as a special or racial “preference.”

The same Gallup/Newsweek survey asked, “Because of past discrimination, should qualified blacks receive preference over equally qualified whites in such matters as getting into college or getting jobs?” On this question, which also narrowed the issue to a black-white face-off, whites answered negatively by a wide 72%-to-19% edge. And, notably, blacks split, with 48% saying yes and 42% no.

None of the cited questions are wrong or invalid. Each can be taken as a slice of information about the public’s attitudes on a complex subject debated in imprecise terms. Taken together, they provide the beginnings of a guide to where Americans stand in the struggle over civil rights and equal opportunities.

Several conclusions can be drawn from these results:

--Like the lawyers and legislators, the public has not settled on a definition of affirmative action. Changing the wording of poll questions on the topic produces noticeable swings in sentiment.

--The mention of “quotas” or “racial preference” appears to turn off many white Americans, and even a sizable minority of blacks seem uneasy when asked to support special “preferences” for themselves.

That puts advocates of affirmative action programs on the defensive. But the fight for the public’s mind on this issue is not over yet. The term “affirmative action,” mentioned without reference to quotas or preferences, appears to evoke a generally positive reaction from many Americans regardless of race. This suggests that much of the public is sympathetic in theory to types of special help for minority members or women, if the programs somehow avoid the “preference” tag.

Same Subject, Varied Opinions

Surveys about affirmative action elicit widely varying answers, apparently getting more positive responses when quotas or preference is downplayed.

Do you favor or oppose federal laws requiring affirmative action programs for women and minorities in employment and education, provided there are no rigid quotas? Favor Whites: 71% Blacks: 93% Oppose Whites: 25% Blacks: 4% Source: Harris nationwide poll of 1,253 adults, June, 1991

Are quotas necessary to accomplish fairness in education, hiring and promotion? Favor Whites: 29% Blacks: 61% Oppose Whites: 59% Blacks: 26% Source: Gallup nationwide poll of 924 adults for Newsweek, April, 1991

All in all, do you favor or oppose affirmative action programs in business for blacks and other minority groups? Favor Whites: 52% Blacks: 86% Oppose Whites: 37% Blacks: 10% Source: Wall Street Journal / NBC News nationwide poll of 1,508 registered voters, May, 1991

Because of past discrimination, should qualified blacks receive preference over equally qualified whites in such matters as getting into college or getting jobs? Favor Whites: 19% Blacks: 48% Oppose Whites: 72% Blacks: 42% Source: Gallup nationwide poll of 924 adults for Newsweek, April, 1991