4.3 Public Opinion
Do Now:
What is an opinion and how is it
formed?
This slide is a placeholder for a Polleverwhere.com poll
slide. Use the instructions included in the documents
section to create a poll using the following question.
Agree or Disagree:
Same-Sex Marriage should not be illegal.
Agree
Disagree
This slide is a placeholder for a Polleverwhere.com poll
slide. Use the instructions included in the documents
section to create a poll using the following question.
Abortion is evil and should not be legal, right?
Agree
Disagree
This slide is a placeholder for a Polleverwhere.com poll
slide. Use the instructions included in the documents
section to create a poll using the following question.
Should capital punishment (death penalty) be
outlawed by the federal government?
Yes
No
This slide is a placeholder for a Polleverwhere.com poll
slide. Use the instructions included in the documents
section to create a poll using the following question.
Should the federal government, through an act of
congress, make illegal in every circumstance,
the policy of killing those convicted of certain
serious crimes?
Yes
No
This slide is a placeholder for a Polleverwhere.com poll
slide. Use the instructions included in the documents
section to create a poll using the following question.
Should dangerous weapons, like deadly assault
rifles, be made illegal?
Yes
No
This slide is a placeholder for a Polleverwhere.com poll
slide. Use the instructions included in the documents
section to create a poll using the following question.
Should assault rifles be outlawed?
Yes
No
This slide is a placeholder for a Polleverwhere.com poll
slide. Use the instructions included in the documents
section to create a poll using the following question.
Same-Sex Marriages should be allowed by law
True
False
This slide is a placeholder for a Polleverwhere.com poll
slide. Use the instructions included in the documents
section to create a poll using the following question.
Should abortion be allowed by law?
Yes
No
Public Opinion:
“The attitudes held by a significant
number of people on matters of
government and politics.”
Public Opinion
How is it formed?
•Family
•Peer Groups
•Media
Mass Media
•Internet
•Television
•Magazines
•Newspapers
•Books
Mass Media
Are you affected by mass media?
Measuring Public Opinion
How can we measure public opinion?
Anecdotal evidence and Polling
Polling
Poll Types
•Straw Poll
•Exit Poll
•Tracking Polls
•Push Poll
•Scientific Polling
Scientific Polling
•Define your universe
•Construct a proper sample
•Create clear, unbiased questions
•Carefully examine poll results and extrapolate opinion
Universe
Whose opinion are you
trying to measure?
Sample
As you cannot poll all of
these people, pick an
unbiased selection of them to
represent the whole.
Unbiased Questions
Bias: deviation of the expected value of a
statistical estimate from the quantity it
estimates: systematic error introduced into
sampling or testing by selecting or encouraging
one outcome or answer over others
Political scientists must make sure their
questions do not steer participants to a
particular answer but that they actually
measure the true opinion of their universe
Avoiding Bias
•Vague Questions
•Complicated Grammar
•Loaded Words
•Leading Questions
•Double Barrel Questions
•Double Negatives
•Mutual Exclusion in Answers
•Exhaustive Categories
•Response Sets
Vague Words/Questions
People will interpret vague
words/questions in different manners and
skew the data. Questions should be
pointed and clear.
“Agree or disagree: Healthcare is good.”
Complicated Grammar
The use of a sentence structure that is not
short, concise and simple.
“Should airplanes, when flying over water or land, be
allowed to expel their waste, solid or liquid, as needed,
without notifying any possibly affected parties?”
Loaded Words
Words that carry a connotation along
with their meaning:
“Tree Hugger” vs. “Environmentalist”
“Beast” vs. “Animal”
“Vermin” vs. “Rodent”
“Mighty” vs. “Powerful”
Leading Questions
Questions that, in some way, lead
respondents to a certain answer.
“Don’t you agree that…”
“Isn’t it true that…”
“Shouldn’t…”
Double Barrel Questions
Questions that are really asking two
questions at the same time:
“Should students receive shorter tests and more time to
take them?”
“Should felons and non-felons receive more jail time for
misdemeanors?”
Double Negatives
Using a negative statement in your question will
create a double negative for responders who
respond negatively:
“Do you agree or disagree? Teachers should not be
punished for hitting students.”
Mutual Exclusion
All answer sets should be mutually exclusive,
participants should not be able to fall into
multiple categories:
“What is your age?”
10-20
20-30
30-40
VS
10-19
20-29
30-39
Exhaustive Answer Sets
Every respondent should be able to fit into at
least one answer set:
“What is your age?”
10 or less
11-20
21-30
30 or older
Response Sets
Avoid groups of questions that are all arranged
with one ideology on one side and the other
opposite; mix up the order.
4.3 Assignment
Use the worksheet to create your own poll questions.
On the back explain how you believe the results would
differ between one of your biased questions and your
unbiased question.