Exam 9: Public Opinion

To help predict the outcome of an upcoming Republican primary election,a polling firm randomly surveys 1,000 people from a list of all registered Republican voters in the state of Texas.In this case,the set of all registered Republican voters in Texas is the ____________________.

In statistical research,a ____________________ is the entire group in which a researcher is interested,such as all adults living in the United States.

Alissa's parents are both Democrats,as are most of her friends.Alissa herself identifies with the Democratic Party,in part because she grew up surrounded by other Democrats and feels comfortable with the policies and personalities that are associated with that party.The development of Alissa's partisanship is best described as a process of ____________________.

Although the United States is one of the most ____________________ nations of the world,its citizens express remarkable ____________________ about democracy and forms of government.

Sam wants to gauge public opinion on the death penalty.He asks survey respondents two questions: (1)"If you could choose between the following two approaches,which do you think is the better penalty for murder: the death penalty or life imprisonment with absolutely no possibility of parole?" and (2)"Are you in favor of the death penalty for a person convicted of murder?" What do you think Sam will find?

To help predict the outcome of an upcoming Republican primary election,a polling firm randomly surveys 1,000 people from a list of all registered Republican voters in the state of Texas.In this case,the group of 1,000 registered Republican voters in Texas recruited to participate in the survey is the ____________________.

Students studying at a university library on Saturday night are probably not representative of all college students.A random sample of students at the library on Saturday evening is,therefore,probably a ____________________ sample of the population of college students.

Response rates to phone surveys-the number of people who actually give interviews,as compared to the number selected and solicited through a random process-have been ____________________.

In statistical research,the ____________________ is the range of expected outcomes for a population given the data revealed by a sample drawn from that population.

Which ideology,most closely identified with Marxism,represents the extreme left of the ideological spectrum in Western political thought since the mid-nineteenth century?

A ____________________ sample does not accurately represent the overall population from which it is drawn.

What is a population and what is a sample? How are these concepts important for understanding the study of public opinion in the United States? What is a random sample? Why is randomization important to making useful inferences about public opinion? What are some sources of bias that might corrupt the results of a survey even if researchers are careful to try to reach a random sample of the population they are studying?

People's support for or opposition to a government program ____________________ depends on how a question is posed.Public opinion ____________________ over short periods of time.

____________________ has to do with establishing the context for an issue in such a way as to emphasize certain aspects over others.

Voters are being asked to decide whether to build a new county jail.Showing them photos of prisoners accompanying a news story about the proposal might cue a negative connotation in voters' minds.However,showing them contented prison workers from another county might cue voters to consciously or subconsciously think more positively about building the jail.Both types of photos are examples of ____________________.

In a presidential election poll surveying a random sample of 1,200 voters,the margin of error is around 1.5 percent.This means that if a candidate,according to the sample of voters in the survey,will receive 47 percent of the vote on Election Day,we can confidently predict that in the real election that candidate will receive ____________________.

Which ideology represents the extreme right of the ideological spectrum in Western political thought,but was discredited in the twentieth century by regimes in Germany and Italy?

Which refers to how people rank-order potential outcomes or experiences?

Brian is often hopeful about the prospects of new policies to improve social conditions,and he supports the redistribution of wealth and resources.It is most likely that Brian identifies himself as ideologically ____________________.