Unit 4 Vocab

Question 1

approval rating

Answer 1

rating for job performance

Question 2

bandwagon effect

Answer 2

psychologically, people want to back a winner so they may not donate based on whose ahead

Question 3

benchmark poll

Answer 3

used before the potential candidate has entered the race; measures support for a candidate and issues people care about

Question 4

entrance/exit poll

Answer 4

predicts outcome of elections and analyzes how different demographics votes; used outside of polling places

Question 5

focus group

Answer 5

small gathering of citizens (10-40) people that holds conversations about issues & candidates; less scientific

Question 6

generational effect

Answer 6

people experience life events differently depending on age at the time of occurence

Question 7

horse-race campaign coverage

Answer 7

which candidate that is in the lead is reported as if it is the most important part of campaign news

Question 8

human bias

Answer 8

people respond differently to subjects like live vs. paper polls & male vs. female pollsters

Question 9

ideology

Answer 9

set of beliefs of a group or an individual

Question 10

life cycle effect

Answer 10

people go through physical & social changes as they age this affecting political socialization

Question 11

non-response bias

Answer 11

anti-establishment & anti-media ; voters may decline to participate in polls

Question 12

political bias

Answer 12

poll is influenced by political standing

Question 13

political socialization

Answer 13

the process by which an individual’s political ideology and opinions are shaped by people and the surrounding culture

Question 14

public opinion

Answer 14

citizens opinion about political issues and government actions

Question 15

push poll

Answer 15

not really a poll; asks questions including positive information about one and negative about another

Question 16

representative sample

Answer 16

“universe”; used to represent a subset of the population

Question 17

rule of law

Answer 17

laws apply to everyone equally

Question 18

sampling error/margin of error

Answer 18

the median level of error; the larger the sample size, the lower the margin of error

Question 19

social desirability bias

Answer 19

people tell pollsters what they think they want to heart

Question 20

straw poll

Answer 20

non-scientific opinion survey; represents opinions (asking friends about school-wide issues)

Question 21

tracking poll

Answer 21

used to gauge how voters feel about an issue and how they may vote; used during campaign to track changes

Question 22

weighting/stratification

Answer 22

adjusting the data so that it matches the the universe population as a whole (race, gender, income)