HON 313 Exam 1

This noted philosopher believed that the public opinion arose from a social arena known as the public sphere

Jurgen Habermas

Compare Aristotle and Plato

Aristotle had a more favorable view of public opinion than Plato

In his writing on public opinion, Alexis de Tocqueville argued that

Public opinion becomes more important in societies with more equality

Who is the historical figure who is known as a conflict theorist and who viewed public opinion as a political force that could potentially harm the prince in charge of the nation?

Niccolo Machiavelli

This philosopher believed that nations should be guided by a form of public opinion known as the general will

Jean Jacques Rousseau

True or False:

Public opinion has become more and more associated with national public opinion instead of local public opinion

True

In survey research, if we want to be able to generalize from a sample to a larger population, then we need to use a sampling method known as

Probability sampling

There are many different methods for conducting surveys that are discussed in chapter 3. Which method tends to be the most expensive?

In-person interviews

What research method breaks subjects into a control group and a treatment group?

Experimental research

What research method for studying public opinion involves having a group of subjects engage in open discussion?

Focus group research

If I was interested in how news stories on legalizing marijuana had changed and I collected a sample of news stories and then coded those stories (as “favorable” or “unfavorable” to legalizing marijuana) I would be utilizing a research method known as

Content analysis research

A survey that interviews the same group of people over time is known as

A panel survey

Walter Lippmann’s view of public opinion reflects which common definition of public opinion?

Public opinion comes through media and elite influence

According to Walter Lippmann, the “pictures in our heads” about public matters primarily come from

News from the media

Jean Jacques Rousseau favored a form of public opinion known as

The general will

James Bryce was particularly interested in the role that _________ played in the public opinion process.

Newspapers

Alexis de Tocqueville believed that American democracy was primarily controlled by

Majority opinion

True or False: Alexis de Tocqueville believed that America was a country with many great authors

False

Who was the first populist President of the United States?

Andrew Jackson

What makes the survey research g-ds unhappy?

Non-probability sample

What is the most commonly used method of survey data collection?

Telephone interviews

What definition of public opinion dominates our thinking in American Democracy?

Public opinion is an aggregation of individual opinions

If someone gives a dishonest survey answer because they want to create a good impression with the researcher, then that answer suffers from

Social desirability effect

This influential philosopher believed that public opinion merely reflects the opinions of the ruling class.

Karl Marx

Walter Lippmann argued that the pictures in our heads are generally (2 things)

Partial and biased representations of reality

What is the most individualistic country in the world?

The United States

True or False: In general, groups make better decisions than individuals.

True

Groups that function well experience a form of conflict known as

Substantive conflict

Who takes longer to reach a good quality decision? (Virtual or Face-to Face)

Virtual groups

A new national poll shows that 75% of Americans hate squirrels. The poll has a +/- 2% margin of error. This means that

73-77% of Americans hate squirrels

Survey researchers can limit sampling error by

Increasing the size of the sample

When people are together on a street and they share an emotional experience and start to riot, they are acting as

The crowd

What are the three historical trends in public opinion?

1. assessing public opinion has become more orderly and routinized

2. expressing public opinion has become more private and anonymous

3. public opinion has moved from a local to a national level

True or False: Walter Lippmann believed that democracy worked better in a small town than in a large nation state.

True

When we compare face-to-face groups with virtual groups, we find that virtual groups engage in less ___________ discourse.

Social-emotional

Interactivity during a group presentation tends to

Increase audience elaboration and that’s a good thing

True or False: Alexis de Tocqueville believed that American public opinion tended to be unstable.

True

A survey that ends in simple descriptive statistics is known as

A poll

Rather than survey an entire population with a low response rate, it would be better to

Use a probability sample with a high response rate

If we assess public opinion through focus groups, then we are thinking of public opinion as

A reflection of majority beliefs

The five definitions of public opinion

1. an aggregation of individual opinions

2. a reflection of majority beliefs

3. found in the clash of group interests

4. reflects media and elite influence

5. public opinion is a fiction

Definition of the crowd

A group defined by its unity of emotional experience; it develops in response to shared emotions

Definition of the mass

A group defined by their interpersonal isolation; it is composed of anonymous individuals who engage in very little interaction or communication; they are bound together by a common focus of interest or attention

Definition of the public

A group of people who are confronted by an issue, divided in the ideas as to how to meet the issue, and who engage in discussion over the issue, it is sustained through discourse over a controversy

when the public ceases to be critical, it dissolves or is transformed into a crowd

Direction of public opinion refers to

where people stand on an issue; what they favor, oppose, or are uncertain about

Intensity of public opinion refers to

how strongly people feel about an issue

Stability of public opinion refers to

the consistency of people’s opinions over time

Lippmann speaks constantly about the “pictures in our heads.” What does he mean by these “pictures in our heads”?

our take on reality; the way we see the world/certain events

Are the pictures in our heads accurate or inaccurate?

A little bit of both. They are biased and partial representations, but they are still somewhat true

What is the alternative to the pictures in our heads?

Direct lived experience

How are the pictures in our heads related to political partisanship?

They are colored by our preconceptions and skewed by political bias

How are pictures in our heads related to public opinion?

Once the pictures in our heads (our opinions) are vocalized, they become public opinions

Walter Lippmann focused on which definition of public opinion? Why?

Media and elite influence

He fought in WWI in the French trenches and saw how the media reported skewed stories of reality

What is the top incentive for the media

Money

Does democracy work better in a small town or a large nation state? Why?

Democracy works better on a small scale because there is more lived experience

Why do groups generally make better decisions than individuals?

More information, ability to remedy errors, intragroup persuasion

Pseudo-environments

Not a real environment, but a recreation of it

A group presentation is NOT…

A collection of individual presentations

Diffusion of responsibility

Individuals take less responsibility for their actions in a group (assume someone else will do it)

The planning fallacy

We systematically underestimate the time needed to complete tasks

Substantive conflict

When group members disagree about something relevant to the group task (this usually leads to better decisions in the end)

What is the benefit of interactivity in a group presentation?

Higher audience elaboration (pay better attention)

Jurgen Habermas

Public opinion is always shifting, depending on the social norms at the time. It is an ever-evolving nature since public life is always changing.

Plato

He acknowledged that public opinion is a central force in political affairs, but he doubted that people could recognize their own best interest or create a morally sound state.

Aristotle (vs. Plato)

He argued for the voice of the public, where Plato argued against it. Aristotle did not see public opinion as the sentiments people held towards particular issues of the day, although he saw those attitudes as important and worth articulating. He believed institutions take raw opinions from communities, organize it, eliminate irrationalities, and then make it coherent.

Machiavelli

He believed that humans are so obsessed with their immediate desires and comforts that they cannot rule themselves, thus leading to his political theory that the people must be governed by a benevolent dictator. Public opinion was volatile, irrational, and potentially explosive. Leaders must be vigilant to ensure that their people continue to hold them in high regard.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

He thought it was necessary to place considerable power in the hands of the public. Public opinion is an aggregation of individual opinions, and a more organic force rooted in shared values and attitudes. Citizens think about themselves and their needs but are also capable of thinking about the general good of society.

Karl Marx

He believed that democracy was subject to corruption by the forces of capitalism. Marx tended to think of freedom as consumer choice: the right to choose among a variety of products and lifestyles.  He argued strongly that organic grassroots public opinion is rare. He says common citizens tend to mimic the opinion of those in the ruling class.

James Bryce

He believed the mass media was astonishingly powerful in America and should hold a place among our other institutions (congress, courts, etc.) as a molder of public opinion. Newspapers both reflect and direct public opinion. He said that newspapers also contained other forms of public opinion – not just stories and editorials, but also letter from the citizens.

Gabriel Tarde

He had more to say on Bryce’s thoughts about the relationship between newspapers and interpersonal discussion. He believed it to be more linear in that media led to conversation which creates opinion and thus action.

How did coffeehouses and salons serve as public opinion technologies

They were both common meeting places in which people could openly discuss politics and form public opinions. Coffeehouses especially brought a variety of people from different statuses, crafts, and backgrounds which allowed the opinions expressed to be diverse.

How strong does de Tocqueville think majority opinion is in American democracy?

Very very very strong

What does de Tocqueville mean by the “moral dominion of the majority” in American democracy?

The more people that form an opinion, the more enlightened it is considered to be. People assume the majority opinion is the morally superior opinion because it is perceived to be the greatest good for the greatest number

What are the problems that arise in American democracy due to majority opinion according to de Tocqueville?

Public opinion is unstable and therefore the laws are too; policy making is constantly changing because the public opinion is shifting

What is the tyranny of the majority according to de Tocqueville?

“majority rules” - the minority is silenced and disowned forcing them to convert to majority opinion

How did Asch conduct his famous experiment on conformity?

People were asked to identify the length of a line; the group gave similar but incorrect answers and the individual was not let in on the secret

What were the results of the Asch study?

Roughly 33% of the individuals changed their answer to match the group/majority

Independent subjects (Asch)

The individuals who maintained their opinion despite the majority because they were either confident in their answer, desired individuality (withdrawn), or they considered changing their answer but ultimately did not

Yielding subjects (Asch)

The individuals who conformed to the wrong answer due a distortion of judgement (began believing they were wrong), a distortion of action (the need to not appear different), or the distortion of perception under stress (they came to perceive the majority as correct)

Majority effect (Asch)

When individuals conform to an opinion because it is the majority opinion

Public sphere

Jurgen Habermas’s belief that public opinion shifts in each era and this meaning is always tied to the nature of the broader political and social area (this social arena is called the public sphere)

General will

Rousseau believed that the state was based on what citizens want when they think about the whole of the community (the greatest good for the greatest number)

Survey

Asking individuals questions (polls)

Population

The group of people we are interested in

Sample

A particular subset of the population that is used to generalize the population

Polls

A method for recording opinions (in a survey) – simple descriptive statistics

Cross-sectional surveys

Surveys completed at one point in time to provide a snapshot of public views at that particular time

Panel surveys

Surveys that reinterview the same people over time to get a better picture of how opinions may change over months/years

Probability sample

Everyone in the population has an equal chance of being in the sample (scientific)

Nonprobability sample

Not everyone in the population has an equal chance of being in the sample (non-scientific)

Margin of error & how to reduce it

The variability above and below the reported value which is possible

Reduced by decreasing the confidence level or increasing the sample size

Sampling error

The difference between the sample’s results and the true population’s results

Confidence level

The number of times out of 100 that a sample of the same size will yield results within the margin of error

Response rate

The percentage of respondents that complete the survey

Nonresponse bias

Meaningful difference between respondents and nonrespondents

Social desirability effect

Respondents’ reluctance to give answers that might make a bad impression on the interviewers

Priming effects

When the content prior to a particular question influences the way in which the respondent answers

Question order effects

When the order in which questions are asked influences the responses

Push polls

When pollsters ask questions in a biased or distorted way, or use inappropriate samples, to get the results they want

Focus group

A research method that brings together a small group of people to discuss and answer questions in a moderated setting