Lesson 13 Quiz

Polls based on nonrandom samples are often referred to as

A) straw polls

B) biased sample

C) None of these

D) push polls

straw polls

As part of an election-year survey you are asked: "If you knew Candidate A had donated money to al-Qaeda, would you be more or less likely to vote for her?" This survey is a

A) a straw poll.

B) a panel survey.

C) a push poll.

D) a benchmark survey.

a push poll.

The ____ of public opinion refers to whether public opinion is positive or negative.

A) stability

B) direction

C) intensity

D) salience

direction

This does not occur during a political party's national convention:

A) Showcasing the party and candidates on television

B) Selection of delegates

C) Policy platform approval

D) Unification of losing candidates and factions

Selection of delegates

Public opinion is most influential with public officials who follow the

A) None of these.

B) politico model of representation.

C) delegate model of representation.

D) trustee model of representation.

delegate model of representation.

A ______ is a group of poll respondents that does not accurately represent the target population and provides inaccurate estimates of the true opinions and attitudes of the target population.

A) random sample

B) none of these

C) unbiased sample

D) biased sample

biased sample

The element of ______ is the likelihood of changes in the direction of public opinion.

A) stability

B) ideology

C) intensity

D) confidence level

stability

How strongly people hold the attitudes and beliefs is the _____ of public opinion.

A) intensity

B) stability

C) direction

D) salience

intensity

_______ refers to the attitudes of people with large measures of political influence or expertise.

A) Public opinion

B) Elite opinion

C) None of these

D) Issue public

Elite opinion

_____ influence/s the political attitudes of non-group members.

A) Confidence level

B) Reference groups

C) Elite opinion

D) None of these

Reference groups

What are the four dimensions of public opinion?

A) Direction, salience, margin of error, sampling frame

B) None of these

C) Direction, stability, salience, intensity

D) Sampling frame, stability, salience

Direction, stability, salience, intensity

Which of the following is more likely to produce a reliable measure of public opinion?

A) Random sample

B) Straw poll

C) Push poll

D) Nonrandom sample

Random sample

Elected officials who view their job as becoming experts on the issues and making decisions that they believe are in the public's best interests regardless of what their constituents believe are called

A) push pollers.

B) delegates.

C) trustees.

D) logrollers.

trustees.

This refers to the period of time between one presidential election and the first primary or caucus of the next presidential election:

A) Horse race

B) Invisible primary

C) Direct primary

D) Front-loading

Invisible primary

This refers to when successful presidential candidates use political expertise, a well-administered national organization, timing, and enormous amounts of financial support to enhance their probability of winning:

A) Front-loading

B) Horse race

C) Direct primary

D) Invisible primary

Front-loading

An internet poll on the Fox News website indicates that 83 percent of Americans disapprove of President Obama's job performance. This poll is likely unreliable, however, because

A) only people who visit the Fox News will participate, and they are likely more conservative, on average, than the target population.

B) the survey is a modern example of a straw poll.

C) all of these.

D) the survey is likely to suffer from the problem of systematic bias.

all of these.

_____ refers to the prominence and visibility of an issue.

A) Intensity

B) Salience

C) Direction

D) Stability

Salience

The beliefs that make up political culture are

A) unstable, with high intensity.

B) stable, with low intensity and unclear direction.

C) stable and enduring.

D) None of these.

stable and enduring.

All of the following can potentially undermine the validity of poll EXCEPT:

A) Question wording.

B) A large sample size.

C) The ordering of the questions.

D) A nonrandom sample.

A large sample size.

There is mounting evidence that mass political attitudes and behaviors are

A) all of these.

B) products of reasoned and rational thought by civic-minded citizens.

C) genetically influenced.

D) largely independent of ideology.

genetically influenced.

Which of the following would be a random sample in which we could determine the sampling error?

A) All of these would qualify as random samples.

B) People mail in their opinions on a form in a magazine.

C) People at a shopping mall are chosen at random to be interviewed.

D) We take a sample in which every person in the nation has an equal chance of being selected to be interviewed.

We take a sample in which every person in the nation has an equal chance of being selected to be interviewed.

Instrumentation is the process of

A) speech writing.

B) designing survey questions.

C) framing public opinion.

D) time management.

designing survey questions.

The name of the event in early March which involves a large number of states holding presidential primaries and which usually sifts out the weaker candidates is called:

A) Super Tuesday

B) Black Friday

C) Taco Tuesday

D) Freaky Friday

Super Tuesday

A poll finds 52 percent of voters supporting candidate A, and 48 percent supporting candidate B, with a 3 percent margin of error. Given this information, we can say that

A) more voters support candidate A than candidate B.

B) the range of opinion makes it difficult to assess who has more support.

C) more voters support candidate B than candidate A.

D) Candidate A is much more likely to win the race than Candidate B.

the range of opinion makes it difficult to assess who has more support.

The major critique of the Electoral College is that it:

A) Represents the will of the masses

B) Violates equality and potentially majority rule

C) Is too hard to get into

D) Provides proportional representation

Violates equality and potentially majority rule

Political socialization refers to

A) mind control techniques used by communist and totalitarian regimes.

B) the process by which one develops opinions and attitudes about politics.

C) the deterministic influence of SES in shaping one's political views.

D) the charisma of some candidates for public office.

the process by which one develops opinions and attitudes about politics.

Translating public opinion into public policy is complicated because

A) the process of arriving at policy decisions as well as the decisions themselves must meet public expectations.

B) public opinion is often based on ignorance rather than knowledge of a issue.

C) public opinion can change quickly.

D) All of these.

All of these.

In a ______, public officials are to make decisions based on their own expertise and judgment, and not just make decisions based on the wishes and preferences of their constituents.

A) trustee system of democracy

B) hyperdemocracy

C) delegate model of representative democracy

D) political culture

trustee system of democracy

The majority of people who participate in politics are

A) racially and ethnically diverse.

B) less trustful of the government and more moderate.

C) less confident that their views will be taken into account by policy makers.

D) older, better educated, and more prosperous.

older, better educated, and more prosperous.

The size of the margin of error in a random sample is determined by

A) the size of the population from which the sample is taken.

B) All of these.

C) the number of questions asked in the survey.

D) the size of the random sample.

the size of the random sample.

Major agents of political socialization include

A) reference groups and the media.

B) political parties, interest groups, and the media.

C) labor unions, professional associations, and the media.

D) family, schools, and peers.

family, schools, and peers.

Democratic government is made aware of public preferences through

A) circulating petitions.

B) public opinion polls.

C) All of these.

D) voting.

All of these.

_____ is the section of the population with a strong interest in a particular issue.

A) A biased sample

B) A ross reference

C) An issue public

D) A reference group

An issue public

Using data based on twin studies, researchers found that some political opinions and beliefs could be attributed to

A) genetics.

B) schools.

C) environment.

D) religion.

genetics.

On which of the following would the direction of public opinion be seen as clearest?

A) The direction of public opinion is not clear on either of these issues.

B) Abortion

C) The direction of public opinion is about equally clear on both of these issues.

D) The "War on Cancer"

The "War on Cancer"

Polls measuring public opinion

A) are useful and accurate if they are based on a random sample.

B) are completely useless and inaccurate because a sample of only 2,000 cannot be representative of the nation.

C) have been highly accurate since the early 1930s.

D) should be trusted only if conducted by candidates because candidates want the most accurate information.

are useful and accurate if they are based on a random sample.

The Electoral College is determined by:

A) The population of each state as reported in the U.S. Census during the previous decade

B) The popular vote of the United States

C) A state's total representation in the U.S. Congress

D) How many of a state's voters vote in the presidential election

A state's total representation in the U.S. Congress

The term "ideology" refers to

A) a coherent set of attitudes about politics and government.

B) an artificial distinction between the two major parties.

C) the prevailing popular opinion regarding an issue.

D) the study of political ideas.

a coherent set of attitudes about politics and government.

A poll on tuition finds 82 percent of college students opposed to tuition increases, 70 percent say that tuition cost is one of their most important concerns, and 75 percent feel strongly enough about tuition to register their opinions with university administration. On this issue, public opinion among college students can be described as

A) None of these.

B) clear, direction, high intensity, high salience.

C) stable, low intensity, high salience.

D) salient, unstable, low intensity.

clear, direction, high intensity, high salience.

A consistent set of values, attitudes, and beliefs about the appropriate role of government in society is called

A) ideology.

B) straw poll.

C) a unifying source.

D) political culture.

political culture.

Political participation may not be an accurate reflection of the will of the people because

A) poor people are so much more numerous than rich people that the interests of the wealthy get outvoted.

B) elected officials lie in order to get elected and do not respond to the will of the people once they are in office.

C) an increase in cynicism makes people more likely to vote.

D) not all people participate equally, so some interests are disproportionately represented in the political process.

not all people participate equally, so some interests are disproportionately represented in the political process.

With respect to public opinion, intensity refers to

A) how many people support an issue.

B) how lasting the public's opinion is regarding an issue.

C) how strongly the public feels about an issue.

D) whether the public likes or dislikes an issue.

how strongly the public feels about an issue.

A _____ is a method of selecting a subset of the population in which every person in the target population has an equal chance of being selected.

A) reference group

B) biased sample

C) random sample

D) push poll

random sample

Rituals such as the pledge of allegiance are an example of what?

A) Salience

B) Public opinion

C) Political socialization

D) Socioeconomic indoctrination

Political socialization

The event where the supreme governing authority of political parties meet for four days every four years to nominate presidential and vice presidential candidates is known as:

A) The State of the Union

B) Inauguration

C) Super Tuesday

D) The National Convention

The National Convention

The ______ is the amount by which the sample responses are likely to differ from those of the population within very tight boundaries that are known as the confidence level.

A) intensity

B) salience

C) margin of error

D) None of these

margin of error

Why does government often seem so unresponsive public opinion?

A) All of these.

B) Public opinion lacks stability and or salience.

C) Public opinion is uninformed.

D) Public opinion is divided.

All of these.

Public opinion is best defined as

A) the sum of all citizens' opinions about a matter of general interest.

B) impossible to measure.

C) a threat to democracy.

D) an individual's opinion about a particular issue.

the sum of all citizens' opinions about a matter of general interest.

What advantage does the Electoral College system of choosing the president provide?

A) Promotes two-party systemic stability

B) All of these are advantages

C) Preserves federal system principles

D) Institutionalizes a check on majority

All of these are advantages

The ________ is the chance, measured in percent, that the results of a survey will fall within the boundaries set by the margin of error.

A) confidence level

B) salience

C) stability

D) intensity

confidence level

Which of the following approaches represents the most reliable method of estimating public opinion?

A) Push polls

B) Internet polls

C) Random sampling

D) Straw polls

Random sampling