Exam 3 - Public opinion Flashcards
what is public opinion?
what the public thinks about a particular issue or set of issues at any point in time
name examples of a public opinion
citizens views on candidates
political institutions
how are public opinions identified?
through a public opinion poll
what is a public opinion poll?
a survey of a sample of citizens used to estimate the entire population’s feelings and beliefs
what are the 2 reasons why public opinion is important for democracy?
- public opinion can influence what the govt does
- a lot of political actors behave as though public opinion matters
what is public/population?
the group of people we are interested in
population =
public
name examples of the public/populations
dog owners
people who have children between the age 4-6
an entire country
why does public opinion matter?
to prove legitimacy of the democratic government
what does it mean when public opinion provides legitimacy of a democratic govt?
- the govt exists to serve the interest of its citizens
- elected officials should implement policies favored by the people
Americans as a group __(1)__, even though __(2)__
- behave as ideal citizens
- individuals do not
what does democracy mean if mass views have no place in shaping policy?
citizens can govern themselves
why does public opinion matter? (2)
- influences the actions of politicians and public officials
- congresspeople considered public opinion when voting on major bills
how is the role of public opinion enhanced?
by the number of polls regularly conducted and reported
what main groups use public opinion? and why do they use public opinion?
- elected officials to justify policies
- political candidates to mount campaigns
- interest groups to promote their cause
what are the 3 levels of public opinion?
- broad / abstract = values and beliefs
- intermediate = political orientations
- specific = preferences about particular topics
what are values and beliefs
broad principles that individuals support and to which they adhere
what are the 4 basic values in American Culture
- rule of law
- individualism
- Liberty
- Equality
RILE
Rule of Law =
strong belief in legitimacy of the US constitution
majority opinion should prevail
Individualism =
preference for rewarding hard work and limiting the role of govt
Liberty =
strong support for idea of basic freedoms and liberties
Equality =
all people should be treated equally under the law and have equal opportunities for economic success
attitudes regarding the performance of political leaders and institutions, candidate preferences in elections, and specific policy issues
political preferences
what influences political preferences?
political orientations
what is an example of preference on a particular topic?
poll ask an individuals view on specific events, person, law, policy, practice etc.
how do we measure public opinion?
by using Surveys to estimate the feelings and beliefs of an entire population
because we cannot interview all of the U.S citizens, what is done to measure public opinion?
we examine a smaller group of cases selected from the population
aka
SAMPLING
what is a sample?
a small group of cases
(a small portion)
what is sampling?
the act of taking a small portion, or sample, to learn about some much larger population
what should a sample do?
it should reflect the characteristics of the population it represents
in what level does a survey about socialism fall under?
values/beliefs (broad level)
why do we use surveys?
to estimate feelings and beliefs of an entire population
when conducting a survey, do we survey the entire population?
NO
what do we do instead of sampling the larger population?
we select from a population
sampling is Not something we do all the time (T/F)
FALSE
what must be done when drawing a sample? (2)
- must be a representation of the entire population
- must avoid biases in sampling procedure
why do we avoid bias when drawing a sample?
because if we use bias then the sample will not look like the larger population, which can have disastrous results
what was the first epic fail of polls?
the literary digest poll
What did the literary digest do?
conducted nationwide polls of over 1 million Americans as to for whom they would for president
why was the literary digest poll an epic fail?
they predicted that Landon would defeat FDR by 20pts the results where reversed
why was the literary digest poll so wrong?
- the magazine drew its sample from telephone directories and automobile registration lists
- over sampled republicans (rich people)
how do we obtain a representative sample?
by sampling at random
why do we sample at random?
so everyone has an equal chance to be selected
benefits of randomization (3)
- protects you from the influences of all the things you know and do not know about the population
- to ensure that the sample looks like the rest of the population
- avoids bias
what do you do first to draw a random sample
define the population
population =
the group or pool of interest to a study
what is sampling frame
determines where the sample comes from and how you ensure you only sample from the population
what does a question do in a survey?
a question designed in a certain way it can elicit very different responses
how dumb is trump when it comes to foreign policy?
Leading question
Should concerned dog owners vaccinate their pets?
leading question
how happy or unhappy are you with the rate of current school board funding and the common-core curriculum?
Double-barreled question
Leading question
it is leading a person to response in a certain way.
Leading the people to answer in one way.
Double-barreled question
ask two questions but you only get to answer one
how fantastic had the LU’s President’s response been to Covid-19?
Leading question
How happy are you with the college’s response to Covid-19 and to your financial aid package?
Double-barreled question
+/- 3 & 4
good sample
+/- 9
bad smaple
over +/- 5
bad sample
