Chapter 8: Public Opinion

Match the strategy to the guideline that will help you be a responsible consumer of polls

- Consider the reputation and motives of the organization conduction the poll --> Use common sense for polls commissioned by an interest group or political party. - Examine question wording --> Look for question wording mistakes. - Check the target population and sampling --> Determine if the sample is appropriate for the target population. - Assess the sample size and margin of error --> Adjust your interpretation on the population being closer to the minimum or maximum within the margin of error. - Compare across polls --> Use poll aggregators. - Be realistic in your expectations --> Sort the good polls from the bad, but don't ignore them altogether.

Which of the following are considered matters of public concern? (SELECT ALL THAT APPLY)

- Government - Politics - Public Policy

What do proponents of the trustee model of representation claim to be benefits or characteristics of that approach to representation? (SELECT ALL THAT APPLY)

- Refine and improve the public views - More likely to respect rule of law - Specialists in public affairs - In a better position to make judgements about policies that justly promote the interests of the people - More than conveyor belts linking raw public opinion to government policymaking

What conditions do professional pollsters need to meet to accurately measure public opinion? (SELECT ALL THAT APPLY)

- Take a sample is representative of the population from which it is drawn. - Ask questions in a way that accurately measures the opinions of a sample. - Make sure the sample size is large enough to yield an acceptable margin of error.

According to the video, which of the choices below are key factors that can influence the socialization process? (SELECT ALL THAT APPLY)

- Work place - Education - Media - Religious Organizations - Peers

Information shortcuts that help people guess or infer what their opinion would be if they had time to become better informed are which of the following? (SELECT ALL THAT APPLY)

- heuristics - sometimes misleading

To communicate information about public opinion in broadly understandable terms, researchers and pollsters use aggregated statistical data such as <BLANK> (SELECT ALL THAT APPLY)

- percentages - fractions - averages

In political science, which of the following is a definition of a sample?

A small subset of individuals drawn from a population

The people who have a formative influence on our political attitudes, values, beliefs, and identities are called <BLANK>

Agents of socialization

Considering the laws of probability, how can researchers influence the margin of error?

By altering the size of samples.

These are the voting citizens to whom an elected representative is democratically accountable.

Constituents

This model of representation states that the first duty of representatives is to follow the opinions of their constituents.

Delegate

What is one way pollsters can approximate a representative sample?

Make sure that it is demographically representative

According to the video, when does political socialization end?

Never

This type of bias occurs when individuals with certain characteristics are less likely to respond to surveys than others.

Nonresponse

These are one's pre-existing attitudes, values, beliefs, and social identities that condition how one formulates opinions about public affairs.

Political Predispositions

This terms refers to the process by which our environment leads us to develop attitudes, values, beliefs, and social identities that shape our orientation toward government and politics.

Political Socialization

What do public opinion researchers analyze to estimate the opinions of large populations?

Polls conducted on small samples from those populations

Which of the following is an aggregate measure of the beliefs, attitudes, judgments, and/or preferences of a population over matters of public concern?

Public Opinion

Select the type of sample that proportionately reflects the relevant diversity of opinions in the population from which it is drawn.

Representative

This type of bias occurs when researchers fail to choose a representative sample of potential respondents.

Selection

What does it mean when the margin of error is high?

The estimates based on samples are less precise.

Public opinion always refers to the opinions held by specific groups of people. The specific group in question is called <BLANK>

a population

In this type of question, respondents are asked about more than one issue but are only allowed to give one answer.

double-barreled

Over the course of a lifetime, the factors that influence us become fewer in number and more limited in impact. What concept does this describe?

funnel of casuality

This type of question is worded in a way that sways the respondent toward one side of an argument.

leading

What is it called when the sequence of questions on a poll influences responses?

ordering effects

What is the sampling method that involves taking a random selection of people from a defined population?

probability sampling

The propensity to answer poll questions inaccurately to put oneself in the best light possible (especially on controversial or sensitive topics) is called which of the following?

social desirability bias