Question 1

The study of public opinion is one of the ____________________ developed areas of research in the social sciences.Because of ____________________ methods of survey research we know ____________________ about what people think and feel,and about the collective attitudes of the general public.

Accepted Answer

A)  least; rudimentary; little 
B)  most; sophisticated; a lot 
C)  least; sophisticated; a lot 
D)  most; rudimentary; little 
E)  most; rudimentary; a lot

Question 2

Although Clarence knows little about politics and does not have many strongly held views on political issues,he responds to a variety of telephone survey questions about current political events to be polite to the interviewer.Clarence's survey responses are ____________________.

Accepted Answer

A)  rational preferences 
B)  nonattitudes 
C)  precognitions 
D)  primed opinions 
E)  framed opinions

Question 3

____________________ is the psychological process of shaping people's perceptions of a particular issue,figure,or policy.

Accepted Answer

A)  Priming 
B)  Framing 
C)  Sampling 
D)  Socializing 
E)  Prioritizing

Question 4

What are priming and framing? How are the two concepts alike? How are they different? Give an example of priming and an example of framing in hypothetical survey questions.How would these cognitive processes influence respondents' answers in your examples?

Accepted Answer

The answer of What are priming and framing? How are...

Question 5

Choosing the best available options given one's interests and information is ____________________.

Accepted Answer

A)  selfishness 
B)  rationality 
C)  attitudinalism 
D)  ideology 
E)  affect

Question 6

Literary Digest mailed out millions of sample ballots to its readers months or weeks before a presidential election and then recorded responses from those completed and returned.From 1920 through 1932,these ____________________ predicted election results quite accurately,including the margins of victory.

Accepted Answer

A)  straw polls 
B)  push polls 
C)  state polls 
D)  social surveys 
E)  sample surveys

Question 7

The relationship between the public and the government can be viewed as a special kind of ____________________,because the president works for all the people because they have hired him or her through their ballots and can fire the president at the next election.

Accepted Answer

A)  collective-action problem 
B)  coordination problem 
C)  Prisoner's Dilemma 
D)  unstable coalition 
E)  principal-agent problem

Question 8

Kendra is attached to core values of moral traditionalism and economic liberty.These values lead her to express support for policies that limit access to abortion services and lower taxes on income,among other things.Kendra's beliefs and attitudes are consistent with a conservative ____________________.

Accepted Answer

A)  partisanship 
B)  rationality 
C)  priority 
D)  ideology 
E)  affect

Question 9

Policy makers and mass media communications often use measures of ____________________ as indicators of what "the people" want.

Accepted Answer

A)  collective judgment 
B)  public mood 
C)  private mood 
D)  public opinion 
E)  private opinion

Question 10

During the 2000 Republican presidential primaries,campaign consultants in favor of George W.	Bush's election conducted a poll in which potential primary voters were asked whether they would be likely to vote for or against John McCain after learning that his "campaign finance proposals would give labor unions and the media a bigger influence on the outcome of elections." Clearly,the consultants' goal was not to find out how many people were going to vote for McCain,but to spread negative information about Bush's opponent while posing as pollsters.This is an example of ____________________.

Accepted Answer

A)  straw polling 
B)  push polling 
C)  random polling 
D)  agenda polling 
E)  strategic polling

Question 11

What is an ideology? What are the major features of liberal and conservative ideologies in modern American politics? What is the relationship,if any,between ideology and partisan identification?

Accepted Answer

The answer of What is an ideology? What are the...

Question 12

Joe feels personally attached to the Republican Party despite important disagreements between the party's platform and his own issue attitudes.Joe's relationship to the Republican Party is consistent with the idea of ____________________.

Accepted Answer

A)  partisanship 
B)  belief systems 
C)  ideology 
D)  postmaterialism 
E)  materialism

Question 13

____________________ is the collection of attitudes,opinions,and preferences of the general public.

Accepted Answer

A)  An opinion poll 
B)  A survey sample 
C)  Public opinion 
D)  Collective judgment 
E)  Public mood

Question 14

Many people express opinions and attitudes in surveys that are inconsistent with their own personal material interests but are in accordance with collective interests.For example,quite a few wealthy African Americans support more liberal social welfare policies than their wealthy white counterparts.This is an example of ____________________.

Accepted Answer

A)  socialization 
B)  irrationality 
C)  group attachments 
D)  social connectedness 
E)  racial consciousness

Question 15

Juanita is an enthusiastic fan of college football.She spends much of her free time watching games,reading about coaches' strategies and styles,and listening to sports talk radio.As a result,Juanita has little opportunity to keep up with political news and knows little about the candidates in an upcoming election.Juanita is,therefore,____________________ about politics.

Accepted Answer

A)  ideologically primed 
B)  fairly socialized 
C)  rationally ignorant 
D)  functionally partisan 
E)  ideologically framed

Question 16

People can engage in what Anthony Downs called ____________________ about politics by free riding off people who happen to like politics or need to know about politics for their jobs.

Accepted Answer

A)  "ideological ignorance" 
B)  "political ignorance" 
C)  "rational ignorance" 
D)  "functional ignorance" 
E)  "American ignorance"

Question 17

____________________ selection refers to any sampling process in which each member of a population has an equal chance of being selected into the sample.

Accepted Answer

A)  Probability 
B)  Random 
C)  Propensity 
D)  Proportional 
E)  Equitable

Question 18

In statistical research,a ____________________ is a subset who are chosen to provide information as representatives of the entire group in which a researcher is interested.

Accepted Answer

A)  sample 
B)  selection 
C)  proportion 
D)  cohort 
E)  population

Question 19

Tony is a pollster.He has a list of 300 people from which he can draw a sample to survey.Tony wants to use the method of random selection to choose his sample.He decides that he will survey every third person on his list,for a sample size of 100 respondents.Has Tony accomplished his goal of using random selection to choose respondents?

Accepted Answer

A)  Yes; since Tony has not purposefully selected specific people from the list and excluded others, his method is random. 
B)  Yes; since Tony has not used demographic criteria (like age, sex, or race) to select his respondents, his method is random. 
C)  Yes; with a population of 300 potential respondents, a sample of 100 people from the list will provide a random sample. 
D)  No; Tony needs to account for demographic criteria (like age, sex, and race) if he wanted to be sure that his sample would mimic the population. 
E)  No; not every member on the list has an equal chance of being selected into Tony's sample.

Question 20

Which is a coherent,organized set of ideas and principles that functions as a core from which individuals draw when forming attitudes about public affairs?

Accepted Answer

A)  partisanship 
B)  belief system 
C)  ideology 
D)  policy attitude 
E)  philosophy

Exam 9: Public Opinion

The study of public opinion is one of the developed areas of research in the social sciences.Because of methods of survey research we know about what people think and feel,and about the collective attitudes of the general public.