CH.5 Flashcards
Conservative
Those who support the social and economic status quo and suspicious efforts to produce new political formulae and economic arrangements. Believe that a large and powerful government poses a threat to citizens and freedom
Liberal
one who supports political and social reform;extensive goverment intervention in the economy;expansion of federal service;more vigorous efforts on behalf of poor, minorities, women; greater concern for consumers and environment
Liberty
freedom of goverment control
measurement error
failure to identify the true distribution of opinion with a population because of errors such as amibguous and poorly worded questions
political socialization
the process by which people learn political attitudes and beliefs
probability sampling
a method used by pollsters to select a sample in which every individual in the population has an equal probability of being selected as a respondent so that the correct weight can be given to all segments of the population
public opinion
attitudes about political issues, leaders, institutions, and events
public opinion polls
scientific instruments for measuring public opinion
push polling
a polling technique in which the questions are designed to shape the respondent’s opinion
random digit dialing
polls in which respondents are selected at random from a list of ten-digit telephone numbers, with every effort made to avoid bias in the construction of the sample
random sampling
a method of measuring popular opinion whereby a small group of people, randomly selected from the population as a whole, may be considered representative, as long as every person had an equal chance of being picked
sample
a small group selected by researchers to represent the most important characteristics of an entire population
