AP Gov public opinion terms Flashcards
Public opinion
The sum of individual attitudes about government policies and issues.
Focus Group
A small group of people assembled for a conversation about a specific issue.
Scientific poll
A representative poll of randomly selected respondents with a statistically significant sample size, using natural language.
Sample
A group of people from a larger population used to measure public opinion.
Random selection
Method of choosing all poll respondents in a way that does not over or underrepresent any group in the population
Representative Sample
A sample that reflects the demographics of the population
Sampling Error
The margin of error in a poll, which is usually calculated to plus or minus three percentage points.
Exit poll
Surgery conducted outside a poll where people are asked who and what they just voted for and why
Benchmark poll
Survey taken at the beginning of a political campaign in order to gauge support for a candidate and determine which issues are important to voters
Tracking poll
Survey determining the level of support for a candidate or an issues throughout a campaign
Randome Digit Dialing
The use of telephone numbers randomly generated by computer to select a potential survey respondents
Gender gap
A term that refers to the fact that women are more likely to be and vote for democratic party and men more like to be and vote for Republican Party.
Political Socialization
The experiences and factors that shape our political values, attitudes and behaviors.
Agent of political socialization
The individuals, organizations, and institutions that facilitate the acquisition of political views
Generational effect
the long-lasting impact of significant historical events on the attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors of a particular generation.
Like cycle effect
The impact of a person’s age and stage in life on his/hers political views.
Political ideology
A personas coherent set of beliefs about government and politics.
Approval ratings
The percentage of survey respondents who say that they “approve” or “strongly approve” of the way the president is doing his job.
Push polls
Political campaign info presented as polls, use polls informing the public, candidates, office holders and media making election night predictions.
Question wording
The phasing of a question in a public opinion poll
