Ch. 7: Public Opinion
Section 2: What is Public Opinion? ●
Vocabulary to know:
public opinion: An
aggregate measure
of the beliefs,
attitudes,
judgments, and/or
preferences of a
population over
matters of public
concern.
Population: The
group whose
aggregate opinion a
public opinion
researcher seeks to
know.
3. The Scientific Measurement of Public Opinion ●
Vocabulary to know:
○ sample: A small subset of individuals drawn from a population with which public
opinion researchers seek to estimate the aggregate opinion of the population.
○ social desirability bias: Inaccurate measure of a sample’s aggregate opinion due to
survey respondents answering questions inaccurately because they to want to put
themselves in the best light possible and therefore are worried their true opinions are
offensive or out-of-bounds.
○ ordering effects: Form of survey measurement error in which the order that
questions are asked influences responses.
○ double-barreled questions: Question-wording error in which survey researchers ask
respondents a question about two or more issues but only allow them give one
answer.
○ leading questions: Question-wording error in which a question is worded in a way
that sways the respondent toward one side of an argument.
○ representative sample: A sample is one which proportionately reflects the relevant
diversity of opinions of the population from which it is drawn.
○ demographically representative sample: A sample that proportionally reflects the
racial, ethnic, religious, gender, and class diversity of the population.
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○ nonresponse bias: Failure to achieve a representative sample due to individuals
with certain characteristics being less likely to respond to surveys than others, thus
resulting in a sample that under-represents the characteristics of those who were less
likely to respond.
○ margin of error: The amount, within a specified level of confidence (typically 95%
or higher), that a measured sample value can be expected to deviate from the true
population value.
4. A Citizens’ Guide to Interpreting Public Opinion
Polls ● Vocabulary to know:
○ the bandwagon effect: A phenomenon in which individuals decide to support a
cause or candidate simply because opinion polls demonstrate the popularity of the
cause or candidate.
○ poll aggregators: Entity that tracks and aggregates (often by averaging) the results
from multiple polls in an effort to gain a more accurate estimate of a population
value.
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