PS Exam 2 7-10

Which statement about social media in China is accurate?

d. Millions of Chinese use social media despite the Chinese government's efforts to crack down on those who use it to criticize the government.

Which of these statements is true regarding a president's approval ratings?

d. Presidents experience their highest ratings during their honeymoon phase.

Why might a government go ahead with a policy or action that the majority of citizens oppose?

d. Public opinion does not always reflect what is best for the nation.

What is one advantage of social media that is not shared by television or print media?

d. The Internet often catches stories the mass media overlooks.

How is the failure of the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion an example of the impact dramatic foreign policy events can have on public support of the president?

d. The event inspired public support for President Kennedy even though it was a failure.

An oligopoly occurs when __________.

d. a small number of corporations own and control an entire industry

Which pair of independent and dependent variables cannot reasonably be reversed?

d. race (independent) and annual income (dependent)

A critic of television is most likely to blame sound bites for __________.

d. trivializing politics

Survey results show that __________ Americans tend to be more tolerant and more in favor of civil rights than the public as a whole.

d. college-educated

The opinion of the general public tends to have little impact on government decision making because __________.

d. indifference and fragmentation make it difficult to discern what the public truly thinks

Which statement characterizes the relationship between conventional media and the Internet?

a. Conventional media provide content that is often picked up and disseminated online.

What is the most significant way in which television coverage turned public opinion in favor of the Civil Rights Act of 1965?

a. Images of police brutality toward African Americans sparked widespread outrage.

Which statement explains why the publication of the Pentagon Papers in the New York Times was significant for the relationship between media and the government?

a. It created a more adversarial relationship between reporters and public officials.

Which statement best supports the assertion that "fewer Americans today are interested in news than they were one or two generations ago"?

a. Only about a third of people watch television news or read newspapers.

How does news coverage on television compare to news coverage on the Internet and social media?

a. Television coverage is more uniform, whereas reporting on the Internet is widely varied.

Who is most likely to feel threatened by a blog published by a dissident writer?

a. an unelected ruler

Which of these is a difference between newspapers and blogs?

b. Newspapers offer more objective coverage than blogs.

Gun control opponents tend to be __________ than the rest of the population.

b. more intense about the issue

Polls designed to influence respondents' opinions are known as __________ polls.

d. push

Due to the routine killing of investigative reporters in countries like Russia, Ukraine, and Mexico, many papers in such places practice __________.

d. self-censorship

In 2007, Talking Points Memo jolted the conventional media by reporting which of the following stories?

d. the Bush administration's termination of liberal-leaning attorneys

The fact that most Americans turned against the Iraq War after learning that Saddam Hussein did not have weapons of mass destruction (WMD) illustrates __________.

d. the limitations on government's ability to create the public opinion it desires

A person's dedication to her organic vegetable garden would not be considered part of public opinion but her __________ would be.

d. views on food industry

Franklin D. Roosevelt won popular support for his policies through __________.

d. weekly radio addresses

Suppose you read a shocking news story where dozens of Americans are killed in a training exercise conducted by the U.S. Air Force near a major military base. Which of the following points, if included in the article, would be the clearest example of framing?

a. Senior military officials describe the incident as a freak accident and claim that there is no further danger to the public.

After interviewing a citizen about his support for the new health care bill, a newspaper concludes that there is widespread support for the new legislation in town. This is an example of __________.

a. anecdotal evidence

Which of these forms of media tend to be the most partisan?

a. blogs

According to a 1998 Pew study of the attitude of politicians toward the public, politicians believed that __________.

a. elites should decide policy questions

Which statement explains how Nate Silver was able to predict an Obama win in 2012 more confidently than many pollsters?

a. He polled a more representative sample of voters than other pollsters did.

In the United States, a liberal would likely support __________, while a conservative would likely support __________.

a. increasing the minimum wage; banning same-sex marriage

A pollster can decrease a poll's margin of error by __________.

a. increasing the sample size

Imagine that you are the editor-in-chief of a newspaper seeking to attract younger audiences. What type of content should you place an emphasis on providing?

a. more sports and feature articles

Andrew Jackson's 1828 victory over John Quincy Adams is widely considered to be __________.

a. one of the dirtiest media campaigns in history

Public opinion turned against both the Korean War and the Vietnam War due to __________ and the lengths of time involved.

a. reporting on the high numbers of combat deaths

Because the president gets in and out of helicopters, visits foreign leaders, and is sometimes involved in scandals, the media tend to cover the executive branch more heavily than the legislative or judicial branches. This is an example of __________.

a. structural bias

The Supreme Court would be likely to receive more news coverage if __________.

a. television cameras were allowed in the courtroom

The 2008 U.S. financial bailouts were met with public opposition despite the fact that they staved off a depression and were being repaid. This illustrates that __________.

a. the public is often swayed by emotional rather than rational considerations

The lack of government control over communications in the United States reflects __________.

a. the widespread commitment to non-paternalism

One challenge of __________ approach is that many Americans tend to identify as middle class, even if they are too poor or too rich to qualify.

d. a subjective

A person who believes in the importance of __________ would be likely to believe that Edward Snowden is a hero rather than a traitor.

d. accountability journalism

Poor poll showings early in the campaign __________.

d. are often a self-fulfilling prophecy of defeat

Suppose you are an advisor to a presidential candidate. Which of the following media strategies would be most effective in reaching a wider audience?

d. arranging the candidate's schedule to capture as much television exposure as possible

Which type of distribution curve is the most dangerous for a democracy?

d. bimodal

What does public opinion polling provide that election results cannot?

d. insight into citizens' views on specific issues

Politicians with an early lead in the polls tend to get _________.

d. more campaign contributions and more press coverage

Published surveys tend to be more carefully watched by the public during __________.

a. election years

Which of the following is a largely unmined source of important news stories?

a. the federal bureaucracy

The results of a poll can be skewed by __________.

a. the way the questions are worded

Polls can track public opinion and __________.

c. shape public opinion

Why do state governments tend to receive less media attention than national or even local governments?

b. Few media outlets focus primarily on state politics.

Which statement best characterizes the partisan orientation of newspapers?

b. Few newspapers present the news in an obviously partisan manner.

Which statement explains why "framing" can be a source of considerable influence?

b. Framing guides subsequent media coverage and shapes public discourse on the issue.

Which statement explains why the life cycle theory does not always hold true?

b. Major events during young adulthood can affect people's political views for a long time.

Which of the following lends support to the political generations theory of public opinion?

b. Many people who lived through the Great Depression are life-long supporters of welfare programs.

What is one reason mass media yields a greater voter-opinion return than face-to-face communication?

b. Mass media reaches a larger audience.

Which of the following is a reason that the telephone survey is the most common polling method in the United States?

b. Other forms of polling are impractical or prohibitively expensive.

Suppose you are an advisor to a U.S. president whose approval ratings are sagging. What advice could you give to the president to help boost public approval?

b. Schedule a meeting with prominent foreign leaders to discuss a foreign policy crisis.

Which statement explains why public opinion is an important consideration for both democratic and authoritarian governments?

b. Strong public dissent can lead to an electoral defeat or the collapse of the regime.

Which factor contributed most to the collapse of regimes such as those in the Soviet Union?

b. a lack of sustained public support

Which of these is an example of a rally event?

b. a major terrorist attack

Which of the following is most likely to result in a pollster recording a non-attitude response for a participant?

b. asking the participant his opinion on an especially complex issue

Which of these is the best strategy for policy makers to use to create better policy on a particular issue?

b. balance opinion polls with their own knowledge on the issue

Television usually covers events after the fact because __________.

b. camera crews cannot always know in advance when an event is taking place

The Republican Party could attract more female supporters if it __________.

b. changed its position on reproductive rights

The fact that the mainstream media initially emphasized the importance of bailing out U.S. financial firms in 2008 illustrates that __________.

b. elites have the upper hand in framing news stories

Television deepens a long-term tendency toward president-worship by __________.

b. focusing much more on the president than on other public officials

According to Marshall McLuhan, television is __________.

b. geared towards elite audiences

Elections rarely show __________.

b. how voters feel about specific issues

According to Almond, the elite might play to the attentive public because the attentive public tends to __________.

b. pass on views that mobilize the general public

Suppose two surveys are conducted, one asking people's level of support for "welfare" and the other using the term "assistance to the poor." The former survey finds much lower support than the latter. This discrepancy shows that __________.

b. pollsters must be careful to word questions in ways that avoid biased responses

The work of Karl W. Deutsch demonstrated that __________.

b. the political system and the communication system parallel each other

Which statement explains why a retired person who refers to herself as conservative expresses strong support for social welfare programs such as Social Security, Medicare, and federal aid for prescription drugs?

c. A person's self-identification is not always consistent with his or her views on specific issues.

How has the content of local newspapers changed over the past few decades?

c. It has moved from politics and world affairs to more human-interest stories.

Which statement can explain why a public opinion poll taken in 2006 found that large numbers of Americans still believed Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and significant links to Al Qaeda?

c. People often hold onto impressions even after the facts have been shown to them.

Which of the following is a consequence of structural bias in the U.S. mass media?

c. Policy problems tend to be ignored until they reach a crisis point.

Which of these statements about the role of race and ethnicity in politics is the most accurate?

c. Politics based on ethnicity have the potential to be fluid and change over time.

Which of the following is a plausible explanation for the polls' prediction that Dewey would defeat Truman in 1948?

c. Pollsters had assumed that respondents who said they were undecided would wind up voting in the same ratio as those who had already decided.

What is one way in which television influenced the 1960s civil-rights movement that print and radio did not?

c. Television showed police attacking peaceful demonstrators.

What is the relationship between education and media consumption?

c. The more educated individuals are, the more media they tend to consume.

What resulted from the Supreme Court ruling in New York Times v. Sullivan (1964)?

c. The press is largely protected from charges of libel against public officials.

How do published exit polls affect the outcome of presidential elections in the United States?

c. They have not been shown to have any impact.

Mahatma Gandhi's movement in India illustrated that __________.

c. a government responds to public opinion when its image is threatened

Based on opinion polls in other areas, one could conclude that an American with a college education is likely to support __________.

c. a reduction of welfare benefits

The willingness of journalists to uncover and publish classified material about torture, drone strikes, and government surveillance programs indicates that __________.

c. accountability journalism is increasingly popular

In 2009, Iranians used computers and cell phones to mobilize against a rigged election. This is an example of __________.

c. digital media's ability to undermine oppressive regimes

Face-to-face communication is the most effective means of altering political opinions because __________.

c. it allows for dialogue to occur between people who disagree

Which of these events is most likely to be ignored by the mainstream media because of structural bias?

c. reports from a journalist embedded with a military unit in a war zone

A well-constructed public opinion poll __________.

c. separates conservative from liberal opinions

The fact that public support for the Korean War declined significantly over a three-year period is evidence __________.

c. that television cannot be entirely to blame for declining public support during times of war

Which of these sources is the Associated Press most likely to consult for a story?

c. the White House press secretary

Non-paternalism is defined as __________.

c. the absence of supervision or guidance

Most elected officials in the United States are pro-Israel, despite Jews comprising only about 2 percent of the population. This can be explained by __________.

c. the tendency of politicians to pay attention to those who hold intense beliefs

The elite press exposes public wrongdoing __________.

c. with investigative reporting

How has television shaped the roles of political party leaders in nominating presidential candidates?

d. Candidates enter party conventions with established momentum that allows them to bypass party leaders.

Which of the following events is an example of the "bandwagon effect"?

d. Commentators proclaim a candidate the winner of a political debate; the candidate then carries that momentum to gain his party's nomination.

The fact that few Americans read Japan's top daily newspaper on the Internet illustrates what limitation of the Internet as a news source?

d. Consumption of the Internet's vast storehouse of information depends on people's will to search for it.

In recent decades, women were several percentage points more likely than men to vote for a __________ presidential candidate.

d. Democratic

In the United States, some affluent suburbs are quite liberal, while poorer country dwellers are conservative. What does this suggest about Karl Marx's theories on class consciousness?

d. His prediction regarding the salience of social class does not apply to the United States.

How is television viewership related to group participation?

d. Increased viewing is associated with lower social trust and group membership.

What can be concluded from the fact that such a large proportion of the American public identifies as conservative?

d. Many people have an ideological identification that goes against their position on the issues.