Download Measuring Public Opinion

Chapter 4
Public Opinion
American Government:
Policy & Politics,
Eighth Edition
TANNAHILL
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In This Chapter We Will Cover:
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Political socialization
Measuring public opinion
Political knowledge
Support for democratic principles
Political trust and political legitimacy
Political efficacy
Political philosophy
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Political Socialization
• Political socialization is the process
whereby individuals acquire
political knowledge, attitudes, and
beliefs.
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Political Socialization
• Agents of Socialization
– Family
• Politically active parents have politically
active kids. Initial party affiliation of the
child is the same as his or her parents
60 percent of the time. Parental
influence diminishes over time.
– School
• Civics instruction enhances knowledge
about government, encourages interest
in current affairs, and teaches patriotism.
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Political Socialization
–Religious institutions
• Personal involvement in
religious organizations is
associated with increased
political participation.
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Political Socialization
–Peer groups
• The impact of a peer group on
an individual’s political views
depends on the significance of
the group to the individual.
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Political Socialization
–Media
• Political participation is closely
associated with media usage.
• Media determines the relative
importance Americans attach to
various problems.
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Measuring Public Opinion
• Sampling
– Researchers are able to study a large
population (a universe) by examining a
subset (sample) of that population.
– A properly chosen sample will reflect the
universe within a given margin of error.
• Example: The margin of error for a sample of
1,065 persons out of a universe of 500,000 or
more is a plus or minus of 3 percentage points,
95 percent of the time.
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Margins of Error for a Universe
Greater than 500,000
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Measuring Public Opinion
• Question Wording
–A good sample is worthless if
the questions are not valid.
Consider the following three
examples:
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Measuring Public Opinion
• If you are now covered by
Medicare, or if you soon will be,
would you be willing to pay
higher premiums, deductibles, or
income tax surcharges for: (a)
catastrophic hospital coverage;
(b) catastrophic nursing home
coverage; (c) both; (d) neither?
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Measuring Public Opinion
–This question is too
confusing. It is not clear
what is being asked.
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Measuring Public Opinion
• Do you believe abortion
should be legal? (a) yes; (b)
no; (c) no opinion.
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Measuring Public Opinion
–The question is oversimplified.
Many people believe that
abortion should be legal under
certain circumstances but illegal
under others. The question with
its oversimplified answer
alternatives would force these
people to misstate their views.
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Measuring Public Opinion
–Do you favor or oppose a real
Patient’s Bill of Rights that
would protect Americans from
abuses by HMOs?
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Measuring Public Opinion
• This question is biased. A biased
question is one that produces results
tilted to one side or another. By asking
respondents if they favor a “real”
Patient’s Bill of Rights that would protect
Americans from abuses by HMOs, the
authors of the question are loading it in
favor of support for Patient’s Bill of
Rights. After all, who is in favor of HMO
abuse?
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Measuring Public Opinion
• Attitudes, non-attitudes, and
phantom opinions
– Sometimes respondents make up
responses to questions about which they
have little or no knowledge because they
do not want to appear uninformed.
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Measuring Public Opinion
• Interviewer-respondent
interaction
–The race or gender of an
interviewer can affect survey
results when sensitive issues are
involved.
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Measuring Public Opinion
• Timing
–Surveys are only snapshots of
public opinion. Using poll results
to predict the future can be risky.
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Political Knowledge
• Although some Americans are quite
knowledgeable about public affairs,
a majority of the nation’s adults
cannot accurately name their own
representative in Congress, identify
the Bill of Rights, or name the three
branches of government.
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Political Knowledge
– Men know more about politics than do
women.
– Wealthy people are more knowledgeable
than are poor persons.
– Republicans know more than Democrats.
– Well-educated people are better informed
than people with less formal schooling.
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Support for Democratic Principles
•
1)
2)
3)
Political scientists identify three factors
accounting for the preservation of political
freedom in the United States despite the
ambivalence and occasional hostility of many
Americans to civil liberties.
The Constitution provides the legal foundation for
individual rights.
Because Americans do not agree on which groups
should be suppressed, they are unable to unite
behind undemocratic public policies.
Political elites (those with major influence on
policymaking) support democratic principles in
specific situations, not just in the abstract.
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Political Trust And
Political Legitimacy
• Political trust is essential to political
legitimacy in a democracy.
– Political legitimacy is the popular
acceptance of a government and its
officials as rightful authorities in the
exercise of power.
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Political Efficacy
• Political Efficacy is the extent to which
individuals believe they can influence the
policymaking process.
– Internal political efficacy is an assessment by an
individual of his or her personal ability to influence
the policymaking process.
– External political efficacy is an assessment of an
individual of the responsiveness of government to
his or her concerns.
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Political Philosophy
• Liberalism is the
political philosophy
that favors the use
of government
power to foster the
development of the
individual and
promote the welfare
of society.
• Conservatism is
the political
philosophy that
government power
undermines the
development of the
individual and
diminishes society
as a whole.
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Opinion Differences Among Groups
• Social Class
–Lower-income persons are more
liberal than middle- and upperincome people on social welfare
issues but less supportive of civil
rights for African Americans than
are middle-income whites.
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Opinion Differences Among Groups
• Race and Ethnicity
–African Americans and Hispanics
hold views that are generally
more liberal than non-Hispanic
white Americans.
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Opinion Differences Among Groups
• Religion
–In contemporary American
politics, the religious right is more
influential than the religious left.
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Opinion Differences Among Groups
• Generation
–Younger Americans are more
tolerant of ethnic, racial, and
social diversity than older adults.
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Opinion Differences Among Groups
• Region
–People from the east or west
coasts are more liberal than are
people from the South, Midwest,
or Rocky Mountain region.
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Opinion Differences Among Groups
• Gender
–Since 1980, however, survey
researchers have discovered a
gender gap. Women are now
more likely than men are to vote
Democratic and support minority
rights.
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Concluding Review Questions
• How does the socialization
process compare with learning
in the classroom?
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Concluding Review Questions
• What role do the following play
in the socialization process:
family, school, religious
institutions, peer groups, the
media, and events?
• What is the theory behind
survey research?
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Concluding Review Questions
• What steps must researchers
take to ensure a representative
sample?
• Why is it important that question
wording be unbiased?
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Concluding Review Questions
• What is the relationship
between political trust and
political legitimacy?
• Are Americans liberal,
conservative, or moderate?
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