Comparative Synthesis of Attitudes Toward Entrepreneurship, Freedom of Speech, Deregulation, and Price, Value, and Profit at Gulu University, 2026: Baseline Distributions and Short-Term Change After an Educational Event

This study synthesizes the baseline distributions and short-term changes reported in the four preceding topical studies of the Entrepreneurship and Leadership Conference held at Gulu University in September 2026. One hundred and two participants completed both waves of the anonymous voluntary questionnaire. Across the fifteen statements, the largest pre-to-post increases in Yes responses occurred on items that concern market self-regulation (+16.6 percentage points), the benefits of reducing regulations (+13.7 points), the claim that price is set by sellers (+12.8 points), self-reported understanding of the distinction between price, value, and profit (+11.7 points), the subjectivity of value (+11.7 points), and the essential character of freedom of speech (+9.8 points). Items that already stood near ceiling (entrepreneurship is important; profit is a reward for risk; open debate leads to better outcomes; markets function better with fewer barriers) showed smaller further gains. The claim that profit is how the rich exploit the poor remained low and essentially unchanged. Taken together, the results indicate that participants entered the conference with already favorable views on several core free-market and free-speech positions and that the event was associated with further consolidation of those views, particularly on the coordinating capacity of markets and on conceptual understanding of price and value. The synthesis supplies the first university-level overview in the planned multi-year series.