Fate of local soldiers shapes war opinion.

• Position: State of the Nation

Americans think locally when they consider whether the loss of U.S. military personnel overseas warrants troop withdrawals, suggests a study from Ohio State University, Columbus. Researchers found that people are more likely to support bringing back soldiers from Iraq if one of more individuals from their home state were killed there within the past two of three weeks. That is true regardless of how many soldiers from other parts of the country recently have died, or how many total national casualties have occurred.

"lf you want to gauge public opinion about the war, look at local coverage concerning the deaths of local soldiers--that seems to be driving opinion more than what's on the national news," explains Andrew Hayes, coauthor of the study and associate professor of communication.

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This study adds a new dimension to past research that suggests American support for wars declines as casualties mount. Most other studies have examined how overall casualties in the war affect public opinion, but could not take into account two key factors: recent deaths and those of local soldiers, declares Teresa Myers, coauthor of the study and a graduate student in communication.

The study includes data from more than 30,000 Americans who were surveyed about their views of the war in Iraq between October 2003 and January 2007. The 21 separate surveys during that time were conducted by the Pew Research Center for the...