Chapter 7: Public Opinion

Public opinion

How people think or feel about particular things

Poll

A survey of public opinion

Random sample

Method of selecting from a population in which each person has an equal probability of being selected

Sampling error

The difference between the results of random samples taken at the same time

Exit polls

Polls based on interviews conducted on election day with randomly selected voters

Question wording

The way in which survey questions are phrased, which influences how respondents answer them

Political socialization

Process by which background traits influence one’s political views

Impressionable years hypothesis

Argument that political experiences during the late teens and early 20s powerfully shape attitudes for the rest of the life cycle.

Gender gap

Political views differing between men and women

Partisanship

Which party someone considers themselves, either a Democrat, Republican, or Independent

Party sorting

Aligning oneself to a certain party based on issue positions. Democrats take liberal positions and Republicans take conservative positions

Political ideology

Set of beliefs about what policies government should pursue

Political elites

People who disproportionately hold political power

Heuristics

Informational shortcuts voters use to make a decision

census

An official count of the population. The Constitution requires the government conduct one every ten years.

stratified sampling

A method of sampling from a population in which subpopulations of a population are sampled independently

straw poll

An informal survey of opinion done within a small group of people

tracking poll

Continuous surveys that allow a campaign to chart its daily rise or fall in support

political ideology

A coherent set of beliefs about politics, public policy, and public purpose, which helps give meaning to political events

minority majority

When there is no group that makes up over half of a population, it is the group that makes up the largest percentile of a population