10: Public Opinion and Political Socialization Flashcards
Which is a critique of public opinion polling?
Pollsters are notoriously partial in their questioning and therefore polling results tend to be insignificant.
Polls are typically not done with any standard frequency, so results tend to not depict the public’s fluctuating opinions.
They are notoriously mercurial in nature and can fluctuate dramatically from week to week.
They are unreliable due to the subjective nature of polling questions.
They are notoriously mercurial in nature and can fluctuate dramatically from week to week.
Which best describes the relationship between polling and policy?
Polling is used frequently by policy makers, but has undetermined significance.
It is nearly impossible to find any instances wherein polling has not played a significant role in policy-making.
Polling is a reliable tool for assessing public opinion, but it is rarely useful in terms of policy-making.
Polling is an unreliable tool that is largely ineffective in helping policy makers.
It is nearly impossible to find any instances wherein polling has not played a significant role in policy-making.
Which tool is unlikely to be used by a pollster when taking public opinion?
Political cartoons
Statistical software
Robocall technology
Social media
Political cartoons
Which best describes the use of public opinion polls today?
The media use public opinion data extensively.
Public opinion polls are generally misused by the media.
Public opinion polls remain a relative rarity due to their exorbitant cost.
Politicians generally consider public opinion polls undignified and refuse to consider what these polls say when crafting policy.
The media use public opinion data extensively.
Who wrote, “all government rests on public opinion”?
the authors of The Federalist Papers
George Gallup
Thomas Jefferson
John Locke
the authors of The Federalist Papers
Which is true regarding the relationship between schooling and political socialization?
Children do not tend to show any amount of political influence until they reach college.
Elementary school children do not display any political influence, whereas high school aged children tend to show Republican political influences.
Public schools are increasingly leaning towards removing the citizenship component of education in favor of less national allegiance.
Studies show that college students tend to become more liberal with each year of schooling.
Studies show that college students tend to become more liberal with each year of schooling.
Which of the following is true about political attitudes?
Political socialization has the largest effect on political independents.
Newspapers are the most influential form of news media on attitude formation.
The president tries to shape public opinion by using the bully pulpit.
Americans are fairly knowledgeable about domestic politics.
The president tries to shape public opinion by using the bully pulpit.
Which issue has historically revealed some of the bigger gender differences in political attitudes?
campaign finance policy
military policy
transportation policy
agricultural policy
military policy
Which of the following socializing agents plays the greatest role in our earliest views on political matters?
kindergarten
parents
media
friends
parents
What is the process through which an individual acquires particular political beliefs and values?
public opinion surveying
political socialization
political acclimation
juvenile politicization
political socialization
Which are the four functions that contribute to political ideologies?
Evaluation, expression, socioeconomic, liberation
Explanation, evaluation, orientation, political program
Socialization, explanation, evaluation, orientation
Liberal, statist, conservative, libertarian
Explanation, evaluation, orientation, political program
Which scenario is a conservative most likely to support?
A local government decides to remove a particular piece of curriculum from its public schools’ teachings
A local government asks FEMA for money to help repair roads after tornado
Members of congress form a committee to fight homelessness on a national level
A state’s government increases income taxes on annual incomes of $150K or more
A local government decides to remove a particular piece of curriculum from its public schools’ teachings
Complete this analogy: Liberal is to conservative as statist is to _______.
Libertarian
Left
Right
Centrist
Libertarian
Which of the following is a person who considers his- or herself liberal likely to believe?
Limited government
Government should foster development of equality
Fiscal responsibility
Government support of traditional morality
Government should foster development of equality
Americans are most likely to have opinions on policies that _____.
contribute to a sense of community
benefit society as a whole
affect them personally
expand the power of the government
affect them personally
In a close election, the _____ can make it difficult to make accurate predictions.
margin of error
political socialization of the candidates
tracking poll
population size
margin of error
One of the difficulties of conducting and interpreting public opinion polls is ______.
the lack of public interest in many political issues
ensuring that the due process rights of the respondents are protected
the lack of sufficient Internet access
accounting for the political affiliations of those being polled
the lack of public interest in many political issues
The intent of a push poll is to provide _______.
negative information about a candidate’s opponent
statistics concerning what a candidate’s intent is
accurate results about public opinion on social issues
positive information about comparing candidates in a race
negative information about a candidate’s opponent
If an interviewer asks you questions immediately after you vote on Election Day, what type of poll are you participating in?
tracking poll
telephone poll
straw poll
exit poll
exit poll
What is the most rigorous sampling technique?
person- on-the-street
self-selected
quota
stratified
stratified
Which error occurs due to the level of motivation of those being polled?
Self-selection
Skewed sample
Straw polling
Push polling
Self-selection
Why is Walter Lippmann credited with spurring the growth of public opinion polling?
Lippmann discovered three fatal errors in the Literary Digest poll that wrongly predicted that Republican Alfred M. Landon would beat incumbent President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Lippmann tried to predict the winner of the presidential contest between Andrew Jackson and John Quincy Adams.
Lippmann was a pioneer in the use of the straw poll.
Lippmann wrote a book in which he observed that research on public opinion was far too limited, especially in light of its importance.
Lippmann wrote a book in which he observed that research on public opinion was far too limited, especially in light of its importance.
American National Election Studies (ANES) surveys are done frequently and ask respondents whom they voted for, their party affiliation, and their opinions of political parties and their candidates. These surveys help political scientists _____.
raise money for political campaigns
understand why people vote the way they do
predict Supreme Court decisions
understand the separation of powers built into the electoral system
understand why people vote the way they do
What type of poll did Literary Digest use to predict the popular vote in presidential elections?
straw
tracking
entrance
exit
straw
What is public opinion?
the views of elites on a political issue
the president’s position on a policy proposal
learned political values
what the public thinks about a particular issue at a given point in time
what the public thinks about a particular issue at a given point in time
Polls taken for the purpose of providing information on an opponent that would lead respondents to vote against that candidate.
push polls
The process through which individuals acquire their political beliefs and values.
political socialization
A variation of random sampling; the population is divided into subgroups and weighted based on demographic characteristics of the national population.
stratified sampling
A person who takes a relatively centrist or middle-of-the-road view on most political issues.
moderate
One who believes in extensive government control of personal and economic liberties.
statist
A subset of the whole population selected to be questioned for the purposes of prediction or gauging opinion.
sample
Continuous surveys that enable a campaign or news organization to chart a candidate’s daily or weekly rise or fall in support.
tracking polls
One who favors greater government intervention, particularly in economic affairs and in the provision of social services.
liberal
Unscientific survey used to gauge public opinion on a variety of issues and policies.
straw poll
One who believes that the government should support and further traditional moral teachings.
social conservative
The coherent set of values and beliefs about the purpose and scope of government held by groups and individuals.
political ideology
Errors resulting from the size or the quality of a survey sample.
sampling error
What the public thinks about a particular issue or set of issues at any point in time.
public opinion
A measure of the accuracy of a public opinion poll within statistical parameters.
margin of error
Polls conducted as voters leave selected polling places on Election Day.
exit polls
Founded in 1952 by researchers at the University of Michigan and Stanford University, this organization collects data on the political attitudes and behavior among voters, such as party affiliation, voting practices, and opinions on parties and candidates.
American National Election Studies (ANES)
One who believes in limited government interference in personal and economic liberties.
libertarian
Interviews or surveys with samples of citizens that are used to estimate the feelings and beliefs of the entire population.
public opinion polls
One who favors limited government intervention, particularly in economic affairs.
conservative
A method of poll selection that gives each person in a group the same chance of being selected.
random sampling
The entire group of people whose attitudes a researcher wishes to measure.
population
One of the earliest developers of scientific methods for public opinion polling and a proponent for a strong role for the voice of the public in politics and government.
George Gallup
What is a public opinion poll?
a study of what every American thinks about a political issue
a means of gauging politicians’ votes
an interview with a sample of people that is used to estimate the feelings of the population
the public’s feelings on the important political issues of the day
an interview with a sample of people that is used to estimate the feelings of the population
What caused the Literary Digest to incorrectly predict that Alfred Landon would beat Franklin Roosevelt?
It did not sample a sufficient number of wealthy voters.
It waited until the last minute to survey respondents.
It did not interview enough respondents.
Its predictions were based on an unscientific straw poll.
Its predictions were based on an unscientific straw poll.
Which survey of the American electorate is funded by the National Science Foundation and conducted by political scientists before and after the midterm and presidential elections?
Harris Interactive Survey
American National Election Studies
National Public Opinion Survey
Barometer of the American Electorate
American National Election Studies
Which of the following would be most likely to include the question, “If you learned that John Smith has had a lifelong struggle with alcohol, would you be more or less likely to vote for him”?
exit poll
straw poll
Internet poll
push poll
push poll
Which type of poll is the most common?
exit
in-person
tracking
telephone
telephone
What do polls show about women and men?
Women are more likely than men to favor the death penalty.
Women are more liberal than men on social issues.
Women are more conservative than men on social issues.
Women are actually less likely than men to support women’s rights.
Women are more liberal than men on social issues.
African Americans are more likely than whites to support ______.
gun rights
laws protecting the environment
tax cuts
the free market
laws protecting the environment
Based on the average age of the state’s population, which issue would you expect to be least important to voters in Florida?
regulation of nursing homes
Medicare benefits
public education
prescription drug costs
public education
Which of the following are Roman Catholics most likely to support?
cuts in spending for the poor
aid to Israel
legalizing abortion
funding for parochial schools
funding for parochial schools
What can most accurately be said about political knowledge?
Most Americans follow foreign policy fairly closely.
College graduates today have less political knowledge than high school graduates of fifty years ago.
Men and women show little difference in political knowledge.
Most Americans can identify the majority party in the House of Representatives.
College graduates today have less political knowledge than high school graduates of fifty years ago.
Which is an example from the 2016 presidential election of how public opinion can influence political decisions?
Donald Trump discussed relaxing immigration regulations because public opinion polls showed that most Republicans favored increased rights for immigrants.
The Democratic Party lobbied for increased spending on national defense in order to appease public demands for increased homeland security.
The Republican Party emphasized tax increases to balance the budget due to public opinion polls that repeatedly showed that Americans want the government to operate with a balanced budget.
Hillary Clinton deemphasized her vote to war in Iraq due to negative public opinion on the military campaigns in the Middle East amongst Democrats.
Hillary Clinton deemphasized her vote to war in Iraq due to negative public opinion on the military campaigns in the Middle East amongst Democrats.
Which of the following is the best indicator that the results of a public opinion poll may be unreliable?
The sample size is 100 people.
The margin of error is plus or minus 4 percentage points.
The survey employs feeling thermometer questions.
Respondents are sampled randomly.
The sample size is 100 people.
American public opinion on foreign policy is usually volatile and dependent on breaking information because ______.
Americans know relatively little about foreign policy since it does not usually affect their daily lives
foreign policy is not important to the country’s safety
the world is changing so quickly
foreign policy is too difficult a topic for Americans to form opinions
Americans know relatively little about foreign policy since it does not usually affect their daily lives
_________ is an unintended influence of the questioner on respondents during in-person interviews.
Self-selection
Question bias
Interviewer bias
The margin of error
Interviewer bias
Which opinion of a President Barack Obama is most likely to be present in an eleven-year-old child who is raised in a politically active Republican household?
Approval of the president
Indifference towards the president
Mistrust of the president
Trust of the president
Mistrust of the president
