AP Government Chapter 5

Convenience Sample

Respondents to unscientific polls who are self selected.

Opinion Leader

A broker who imparts information about politics and government to other people

Two-Step Flow Model

A communication model where the media disseminate information that is processed by opinion leaders, who simplify messages and pass them on to opinion followers.

Probability Sampling

A method of selecting survey participants at random

Quota Sample

A method of selecting survey participants that involves choosing subjects on the basis of their fitting into particular demographic categories, such as sex and age groups.

Survey

A questionnaire typically administered by academic or government researchers to a representative sample people drawn from a larger population.

Public Opinion Poll

A short questionnaire administered to a sample of people to ascertain the views of a larger population usually conducted by a commercial organization.

Deliberative Polling

A technique that brings people together to discuss issues with experts and other citizens in order to arrive at more informed opinions

Public Judgment

A type of public opinion where people carefully consider the range of viewpoints and policy consequences of issues.

Robo-Polling

Administering automated polls by phone using a recorded voice to ask the question and requiring respondents to answer by pressing the touch pad on their telephone.

Straw Poll

An informal poll, often used to gauge opinions about candidates, that is administered haphazardly and without attention to proper sampling methods.

Quick Poll

An online poll, usually consisting of one or two questions, that is asked of a non representative, self-selected sample of respondents.

Exit Polls

Face-to-face interviews with voters taken as they leave the voting booth to determine their candidate preference in the election and their positions on issues.

Focus Groups

Facilitators convene a small group of subjects to engage in a structured discussion about a topic.

Open-Ended Questions

Items on a questionnaire that allow respondents to reply to a question in their own words

Closed-Ended Questions

Items on a questionnaire that provide respondents with a fixed number of options about a topic from which they can choose the one that best fits their opinion.

Push Poll

Not a legitimate poll but a marketing technique disguised as a poll that is designed to influence respondents' opinions about candidates and issues through leading questions

Issue Publics

People who focus on particular public policy debates and ignore other issues

Pundits

People who offer their opinion or commentary on political issues through the media

Attentive Public

People who pay close attention to government and politics in general.

Public Opinion

People's collective preferences on matters related to government and politics.

Attitudes

Persistent, general orientations toward people, groups, or institutions.

Digital Polls

Polls administered through internet platforms and smartphones that run the gamut from sophisticated surveys to quick polls.

Live Polls

Polls that record people's opinion about an event as it is unfolding; the results are depicted simultaneously with the video of event

Echo Chamber

The idea that people pay attention to media that conforms to their ideological view to the exclusion of media that offer alternative perspectives.

Opinion

The position that a person takes on a particular issue policy, action, or leader