Exam 3 - Public opinion

Question 1

what is public opinion?

Answer 1

what the public thinks about a particular issue or set of issues at any point in time

Question 2

name examples of a public opinion

Answer 2

citizens views on candidates
political institutions

Question 3

how are public opinions identified?

Answer 3

through a public opinion poll

Question 4

what is a public opinion poll?

Answer 4

a survey of a sample of citizens used to estimate the entire population’s feelings and beliefs

Question 5

what are the 2 reasons why public opinion is important for democracy?

Answer 5

1. public opinion can influence what the govt does
2. a lot of political actors behave as though public opinion matters

Question 6

what is public/population?

Answer 6

the group of people we are interested in

Question 7

population =

Answer 7

public

Question 8

name examples of the public/populations

Answer 8

dog owners
people who have children between the age 4-6
an entire country

Question 9

why does public opinion matter?

Answer 9

to prove legitimacy of the democratic government

Question 10

what does it mean when public opinion provides legitimacy of a democratic govt?

Answer 10

1. the govt exists to serve the interest of its citizens
2. elected officials should implement policies favored by the people

Question 11

Americans as a group __(1)__, even though __(2)__

Answer 11

1. behave as ideal citizens
2. individuals do not

Question 12

what does democracy mean if mass views have no place in shaping policy?

Answer 12

citizens can govern themselves

Question 13

why does public opinion matter? (2)

Answer 13

1. influences the actions of politicians and public officials
2. congresspeople considered public opinion when voting on major bills

Question 14

how is the role of public opinion enhanced?

Answer 14

by the number of polls regularly conducted and reported

Question 15

what main groups use public opinion? and why do they use public opinion?

Answer 15

1. elected officials to justify policies
2. political candidates to mount campaigns
3. interest groups to promote their cause

Question 16

what are the 3 levels of public opinion?

Answer 16

1. broad / abstract = values and beliefs
2. intermediate = political orientations
3. specific = preferences about particular topics

Question 17

what are values and beliefs

Answer 17

broad principles that individuals support and to which they adhere

Question 18

what are the 4 basic values in American Culture

Answer 18

1. rule of law
2. individualism
3. Liberty
4. Equality

RILE

Question 19

Rule of Law =

Answer 19

strong belief in legitimacy of the US constitution

majority opinion should prevail

Question 20

Individualism =

Answer 20

preference for rewarding hard work and limiting the role of govt

Question 21

Liberty =

Answer 21

strong support for idea of basic freedoms and liberties

Question 22

Equality =

Answer 22

all people should be treated equally under the law and have equal opportunities for economic success

Question 23

attitudes regarding the performance of political leaders and institutions, candidate preferences in elections, and specific policy issues

Answer 23

political preferences

Question 24

what influences political preferences?

Answer 24

political orientations

Question 25

what is an example of preference on a particular topic?

Answer 25

poll ask an individuals view on specific events, person, law, policy, practice etc.

Question 26

how do we measure public opinion?

Answer 26

by using Surveys to estimate the feelings and beliefs of an entire population

Question 27

because we cannot interview all of the U.S citizens, what is done to measure public opinion?

Answer 27

we examine a smaller group of cases selected from the population
aka
SAMPLING

Question 28

what is a sample?

Answer 28

a small group of cases
(a small portion)

Question 29

what is sampling?

Answer 29

the act of taking a small portion, or sample, to learn about some much larger population

Question 30

what should a sample do?

Answer 30

it should reflect the characteristics of the population it represents

Question 31

in what level does a survey about socialism fall under?

Answer 31

values/beliefs (broad level)

Question 32

why do we use surveys?

Answer 32

to estimate feelings and beliefs of an entire population

Question 33

when conducting a survey, do we survey the entire population?

Answer 33

NO

Question 34

what do we do instead of sampling the larger population?

Answer 34

we select from a population

Question 35

sampling is Not something we do all the time (T/F)

Answer 35

FALSE

Question 36

what must be done when drawing a sample? (2)

Answer 36

1. must be a representation of the entire population
2. must avoid biases in sampling procedure

Question 37

why do we avoid bias when drawing a sample?

Answer 37

because if we use bias then the sample will not look like the larger population, which can have disastrous results

Question 38

what was the first epic fail of polls?

Answer 38

the literary digest poll

Question 39

What did the literary digest do?

Answer 39

conducted nationwide polls of over 1 million Americans as to for whom they would for president

Question 40

why was the literary digest poll an epic fail?

Answer 40

they predicted that Landon would defeat FDR by 20pts the results where reversed

Question 41

why was the literary digest poll so wrong?

Answer 41

1. the magazine drew its sample from telephone directories and automobile registration lists
2. over sampled republicans (rich people)

Question 42

how do we obtain a representative sample?

Answer 42

by sampling at random

Question 43

why do we sample at random?

Answer 43

so everyone has an equal chance to be selected

Question 44

benefits of randomization (3)

Answer 44

1. protects you from the influences of all the things you know and do not know about the population
2. to ensure that the sample looks like the rest of the population
3. avoids bias

Question 45

what do you do first to draw a random sample

Answer 45

define the population

Question 46

population =

Answer 46

the group or pool of interest to a study

Question 47

what is sampling frame

Answer 47

determines where the sample comes from and how you ensure you only sample from the population

Question 48

what does a question do in a survey?

Answer 48

a question designed in a certain way it can elicit very different responses

Question 49

how dumb is trump when it comes to foreign policy?

Answer 49

Leading question

Question 50

Should concerned dog owners vaccinate their pets?

Answer 50

leading question

Question 51

how happy or unhappy are you with the rate of current school board funding and the common-core curriculum?

Answer 51

Double-barreled question

Question 52

Leading question

Answer 52

it is leading a person to response in a certain way.

Leading the people to answer in one way.

Question 53

Double-barreled question

Answer 53

ask two questions but you only get to answer one

Question 54

how fantastic had the LU’s President’s response been to Covid-19?

Answer 54

Leading question

Question 55

How happy are you with the college’s response to Covid-19 and to your financial aid package?

Answer 55

Double-barreled question

Question 56

+/- 3 & 4

Answer 56

good sample

Question 57

+/- 9

Answer 57

bad smaple

Question 58

over +/- 5

Answer 58

bad sample