Public Opinion Chapter 1 Vocab

Democratic Theory

The branch of scholarship that specializes in elucidating, developing, and defining the meaning of democracy

Classical models of democracy

Theories based on ancient Athenian democracy; key characteristics include active citizen participation in political debates and decisions

Popular sovereignty

Principle that the power in a democratic society ultimately rests within the citizenry

Direct democracy

Governmental system whereby citizens meet, discuss, and decide on the content of the laws

Representative democracy

Governmental system whereby citizens elect official to represent their views and make decisions

Democratic elitists

Democratic theorists who view competitive elections as the primary mechanism by which citizen preferences are expressed and who also believe that government decisions are better made by political elites than the public

Pluralists

Democratic theorists who believe that groups perform an essential role as intermediaries between the public and political elites

Interest Groups

Organizations or collection of individuals who attempt to influence governmental decision makers regarding specific issues

factions

Groups of citizens who pursue their self-interest rather than advocating for the common good of the community or nation

participatory democracy

Theory of democracy that emphasizes the importance of political participation by the public and believes the public to be capable of meaningful participation

Citizen apathy

Lack of interest or involvement in political matters

Public opinion

The preferences of people toward governmental and policy matters; generally considered as the aggregation of individuals views

Public judgement

Opinion that result once people have thoroughly considered a political issue and the consequences of their views

Attitude

Positive or negative evaluation of an object (such as a person or issue)

Opinion

Expression of preference toward an object; verbal or written expression of an attitude

Extremity

Degree to which support or opposition toward attitude object is strong or slight

Attitude importance

Degree to which a specific attitude is personally meaningful or relevant

Beliefs

Thoughts or information regarding an attitude object, often concerning what a person thinks is true about the object

Stereotypes

Beliefs about the characteristics of members of social groups; the belief can be positive or negative

Values

Abstract enduring beliefs regarding how the world should work

Emotions

Feeling about or affect regarding an attitude or object

Prejudice

Negative affect that is felt toward a specific societal group

Party identification

Allegiance with or attachment to a political party (typically the Democratic party or the republican party

Partisans

People who identify with a political party

Partisan independence

Viewing oneself as not identifying with a political party

leaners

Individuals who describe themselves as partisan independents but who do feel close to one of the political parties

Normative

Conclusion or statements that focus on how the world should operate

Empirical analyses

Examinations that focus on accurately describing and/or explaining real-life phenomena

survey

A type of research method for assessing political attitudes in which a large sample of citizens (typically randomly selected from the population) is asked the same list of questions (broad range)

Public opinion poll

A type of research method for assessing political attitudes in which a large sample of citizens (typically randomly selected from the population) is asked the same list of questions (narrow)

Sample

A subset of the elements of interest (that is, a subset of the population)

Population

All the elements of interest from which a sample is drawn

Close-ended question

Survey questions with a limited set of response options

Question wording effects

Effects that occur when the wording of survey questions influences respondents’ answers to those questions

Response order effects

Effects that occur when the order of response option to a survey questions influences respondents’ answers to those questions

Balanced questions

Survey question that provides two points of view (such as support and opposition)

question order effects

Effects that occur when the order of survey questions influences respondents’ answers to those questions

External validity

The characteristic of a study that the finding can be generalized beyond the sample and context used in the that study

Convenience sample

A sample whose respondents are selected in a way that is easy for the researcher, such as by asking for volunteers

Panel or longitudinal study/survey

Assessing political opinions of the same people at two or more times

attrition

Drop-off in the number of respondents in a panel study

Survey mode

Method used to collect survey data. Examples include surveys conducted over the phone, via the Internet, through the mail, or face-to-face

mixed-mode approach

Using more than one method to collect survey data

random digit dial

A procedure for selecting phone numbers by chance alone

opt-in internet surveys

Opinion polls administered online and for which people volunteer to participate

experiment

A type of research design that has 2 key characteristics: (1) The experimenter manipulates a feature of the study, and (2) Subjects are randomly assigned to experimental conditions

subjects

Participants in an experiment

manipulation

The act of researcher varying access to information, events, or whatever is the focus of the research among the experimental participants

random assignement

Process of assigning subjects to experimental conditions such that chance along determines which subject gets which condition

internal validity

A characteristic of a study that allows a researcher to conclude that one factor causes another

survey-based experiment

An experiment embedded in a survey whereby subjects are randomly assigned to experimental conditions

replication

When scholars repeat a study to determine whether their results are consistent with prior research findings

timebound

Characteristic of a study whereby it only applies to a limited time period

in-depth interviewing

A type of research method for assessing political attitudes by asking respondents open-ended questions and allowing respondents to answer however they wish and in as much detail as they want to provide

open-ended questions

Survey items that allow respondents to answer however they see fit; these items do not present respondents with determined response options

Focus groups

A type of research method for assessing political attitudes in which citizens are brought together in a group and asked what they think about political topic using open-ended questions

Content analysis

Research technique used to examine the content of communication