Deck 6: Public Opinion

Question 1

Which of the following refers to the principle of randomness in public opinion polling?

A) Every individual sampled decreases the risk of bias error.
B) Every individual can choose to participate or decline participation in the opinion poll.
C) Every individual in the population is sampled.
D) Every individual has a known and equal chance of being sampled.
E) Every individual sampled has a unique perspective on the issues.

Answer 1

D

Question 2

What is the extent to which people believe their actions affect the course of government called?

A) Efficacy
B) Public opinion
C) Public trust
D) Legitimacy
E) Approval rating

Answer 2

A

Question 3

The primary way that the electorate expresses its opinion is through which of the following?

A) Polls
B) Letters
C) Voting
D) Protests
E) Surveys

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Writing more than one hundred years ago, James Bryce, a noted observer of U.S. politics, contended that which of the following is/are "the greatest source of power" in the United States?

A) Public opinion
B) The media
C) Congress
D) The president
E) Political parties

Question 5

Which of the following presidents has experienced both the highest and lowest approval ratings since the start of scientific polling?

A) President Barack Obama
B) President Lyndon B. Johnson
C) President George W. Bush
D) President Ronald Reagan
E) President John F. Kennedy

Question 6

After the so-called "honeymoon" period, what typically happens to presidential popularity?

A) It rises.
B) It falls.
C) It remains constant.
D) It plummets to near zero.
E) It skyrockets.

Question 7

What is the aggregate of individual attitudes or beliefs about certain issues or officials called?

A) Political socialization
B) Public opinion
C) Partisanship
D) Elite opinion
E) Efficacy

Question 8

Which of the following describes political trust over the past fifty years?

A) Increased
B) Stayed the same
C) Decreased
D) Increased only in election years
E) Decreased only in election years

Question 9

In polling, the difference between the sample's results and those that would have been obtained had the entire population been interviewed is known as which of the following?

A) A failure of randomness
B) A sampling error
C) Unlikely to happen at all
D) Likely to be very large
E) A statistical miscalculation

Question 10

Which of the following best reflects the reason why Literary Digest was incorrect in its prediction of the 1936 presidential election?

A) Its readers were asked to guess as to the outcome, rather than offering up their own opinions.
B) It had not obtained a random sample of the population.
C) Its readers were generally wealthy and not reflective of the population at large.
D) Its readers were asked to guess as to the outcome, rather than offering up their own opinions, and it had not obtained a random sample of the population.
E) It had not obtained a random sample of the population, and its readers were generally wealthy and not reflective of the population at large.

Question 11

Which of the following best describes presidential approval ratings over time?

A) High moving to low at the end of the term
B) Low moving to high at the end of a term
C) Low at the beginning and end and high in the middle of a term
D) High at the beginning and end of a term and low in the middle
E) Relatively constant throughout a term

Question 12

The decline in public support for progressive policies such as welfare and extended health care can be linked to which of the following?

A) Declining political trust
B) Declining political socialization
C) Increasing party identification
D) Increasing unemployment rates
E) Increasing voter turnout

Question 13

The collective attitude of the citizens on a given issue is known as what?

A) Public opinion
B) Gerrymandering
C) Public discord
D) Incumbency
E) Political reform

Question 14

What is the job performance evaluation for the president, Congress, or other public official or institution that is generated by public opinion polls and typically reported as a percentage called?

A) Party identification level
B) Exit poll
C) Likability score
D) Approval rating
E) Nielsen rating

Question 15

Public opinion suggests that overall, Americans' commitment to the country and its core institutions is which of the following?

A) Weak
B) Strong
C) In severe decline
D) Invisible
E) Undetectable

Question 16

In the Gettysburg Address, Abraham Lincoln expressed the idea that democratic government must be responsive to which of the following?

A) Corporate interests
B) The will of the people
C) Broad economic interests
D) The will of the legislature
E) International interests

Question 17

How did President Barack Obama's approval ratings compare to President George W. Bush's approval ratings?

A) They were more stable.
B) They were more volatile.
C) They were nearly identical.
D) They were always higher.
E) They were always lower.

Question 18

To accurately represent the target population, a small sample should be which of the following?

A) Randomly selected
B) Representative of the whole group
C) Representative in terms of demographic traits (age, region, religion, race, etc.)
D) Representative in terms of opinions
E) All of these are correct.

Question 19

When was modern polling developed?

A) In the 1890s by Literary Digest
B) In the 1930s by George Gallup
C) In the 1940s at Harvard University
D) In the 1960s at the Census Bureau
E) In the 1970s by Zogby and Nielsen

Question 20

What is the extent to which people believe the government acts in their best interests called?

A) Efficacy
B) Public opinion
C) Political trust
D) Legitimacy
E) Approval rating

Question 21

Why are Internet polls not necessarily accurate?

A) Most women are not on the Internet.
B) Most men are not on the Internet.
C) Most African Americans are not on the Internet.
D) They lack a random sample.
E) It is impossible to weight the sample.

Question 22

"Would you be more likely or less likely to vote for Congressman Jones, who voted to raise your taxes 22 times?" Which type of poll includes this kind of question?

A) Media poll
B) Quota poll
C) Pull poll
D) Push poll
E) Gallup poll

Question 23

Why do cell phones present a problem for pollsters?

A) It is impossible to randomly select cell phone numbers.
B) Cell phone companies charge pollsters to make calls.
C) Cell phone owners increasingly do not have landlines.
D) Cell phones are more common among older Americans.
E) Most cell phone users have a landline, thus resulting in being "double polled."

Question 24

Which of the following best describes the transfer of political attitudes and beliefs?

A) It is more likely to occur from children to parents.
B) It is more likely to occur from parents to children.
C) It is just as likely to occur from children to parents as it is to occur from parents to children.
D) It is exceptionally rare in families.
E) It never occurs from children to parents.

Question 25

Which of the following factors best determines the accuracy of the sample?

A) Randomness of sample
B) A smaller sample
C) Location of the sample
D) Amount of time during which the sample was conducted
E) Year sample is taken

Question 26

Which of the following best describes the transfer of political values?

A) Is most likely to occur through the media
B) Is more likely to occur from families to children
C) Is more likely that children will influence their parents
D) Is exceptionally rare in families
E) Only occurs in small families

Question 27

Which of the following statements regarding political socialization is true?

A) Parents disaffected from the political system are more likely to provide political information to their children than parents who are not similarly disaffected.
B) Although more sources of political information have become readily available in recent decades to most Americans, these sources are not as readily available to most young people.
C) Sources of information about politics have been steadily decreasing in the United States for decades.
D) The family has become the only meaningful source of political socialization in the United States.
E) Scholars believe that greater access to political information may explain why young Americans are more liberal than their parents on many social issues.

Question 28

A sample size that is which of the following will more accurately represent the population?

A) Neutral
B) Male-oriented
C) Smaller
D) Female-oriented
E) Random

Question 29

Today, how are most polls conducted?

A) Face-to-face interviews
B) The telephone
C) Mail surveys
D) Radio broadcasts
E) Straw voting

Question 30

Gallup or Roper pollsters generally interview about how many respondents for a nationwide sample?

A) 150
B) 1,500
C) 10,500
D) 15,000
E) 150,000

Question 31

A random sample refers to which of the following?

A) Every person in the target population has an equal chance of being selected.
B) There is no pre-planning in the selection process.
C) Every person in the target population who is encountered is selected.
D) Researchers decide how many persons of certain types they need in the survey.
E) The poll is unscientific.

Question 32

Which of the following best describes an opinion leader?

A) One who is able to influence the opinions of others because of position, expertise, or personality
B) A pollster
C) Always someone whose job is to sway public opinion, such as a member of Congress
D) A public relations expert
E) Someone who relies on position or expertise, rather than something like personality

Question 33

The process by which people acquire political beliefs and attitudes is called what?

A) Opinion leadership
B) Political socialization
C) Agenda setting
D) Peer grouping
E) Consensus building

Question 34

The best example of the generational effect is which of the following?

A) Individuals who are in their early twenties tend to have a more liberal attitude toward social issues.
B) Candidate Hillary Clinton received significant support from women in the 2016 presidential campaign.
C) Many individuals remember where they were the night Barack Obama was first elected.
D) Individuals who came of age during the Watergate scandal have a cynical attitude toward government.
E) Individuals with a high economic status tend to be more politically involved.

Question 35

Which of the following refers to a challenging issue in the science of research polling?

A) The decline in importance of political polling
B) The lack of scientific research at the university level
C) The relatively low cost of Internet polling
D) The growth of the Hispanic population
E) The growth of cell phones

Question 36

Which of the following best describes the influence of parents over their children's political socialization?

A) Only occurs in strongly political families
B) Is due to the declining influence of schools and the media
C) Is due to the rise of homeschooling
D) Is because of children seeing parents as an authority on politics
E) Is due to constant communication and receptivity of children to their parents' views

Question 37

Which of the following refers to a "poll" where respondents are given misleading information in the questions they are asked in order to persuade them to vote against a candidate?

A) Convention polls
B) Publicity polls
C) Push polls
D) Scientific polls
E) Pundit polls

Question 38

Which of the following are the most important early sources of political socialization?

A) Family and the media
B) Schools and the media
C) Family and political parties
D) Family and schools
E) Political parties and schools

Question 39

Which of the following is true of push polls?

A) They have been determined to be illegal in twenty-three states.
B) They are always conducted face to face rather than by telephone.
C) They are so controversial that very few candidates have chosen to use them.
D) They were used widely in the 1960s and 1970s, but when they became associated with the dirty politics of those eras, they were disregarded by most candidates.
E) They are designed to disseminate negative information about a candidate.

Question 40

Which of the following is the most important principle in sampling?

A) The sample size
B) Randomness
C) Integrity of the pollster
D) Prior experience
E) Population characteristics

Question 41

As parental and school influences wane in adulthood, which of the following emerges as a more important socialization agent?

A) Families
B) Political parties
C) Historical references
D) The current presidents
E) Adult peer groups and mass media

Question 42

According to political scientists, what percentage of Americans know the name of the Speaker of the House?

A) 40 percent
B) 10 percent
C) 50 percent
D) 25 percent
E) 1 percent

Question 43

The psychological attachment that a person feels to a political party is called what?

A) Socialization
B) Party identification
C) Manipulation
D) Party direction
E) Political efficacy

Question 44

The generational effect refers to which of the following?

A) The way in which political socialization produces opinions
B) Increased tension between the two major political parties
C) Tendency for persons to become more conservative as they grow older
D) Long-lasting impact of significant events of a particular time on the generation that came of age at that time
E) The way in which the family influences opinions

Question 45

Which of the following is the first agent of political socialization for most people?

A) Family
B) Their peers
C) School
D) Television
E) The Internet

Question 46

Which of the following statements concerning gender and political beliefs is incorrect?

A) Women are more likely to favor government action to promote equality.
B) Women are more likely to favor affirmative action.
C) Men are less likely to favor increased spending on social programs.
D) Men are more likely to favor the death penalty.
E) Women are more likely to favor the death penalty.

Question 47

Although the public may appear to be polarized along party lines, which of the following statements best describes why that polarization may not be reflected in public opinion?

A) There are rapid shifts in public opinion when one party loses to another party in the next election cycle.
B) There is a great deal of similarity among both Democrats and Republicans on a range of issues.
C) Public opinion shifts from liberal to conservative every four to eight years.
D) There has been a decline in the number of independent voters.
E) Voter registration overall has declined.

Question 48

Which of the following are the major agents of early socialization in the United States?

A) Religion and social class
B) Family, religion, and political party
C) Family, school, community, and peers
D) School and social class
E) Economics, television, and the Internet

Question 49

The process whereby one becomes aware of politics, learns political facts, and forms political values is called what?

A) Political indoctrination
B) Ideological awakening
C) Political ideology
D) Political socialization
E) Systems building

Question 50

Which of the following is most accurate in terms of how well informed people are about politics?

A) Individuals are well informed, but collectively, they usually make unreasonable choices.
B) Individuals are not well informed, but collectively, they make reasonable choices.
C) Individuals are unusually well informed, and collectively, they make reasonable choices.
D) Individuals are not well informed, and collectively, they avoid making choices.
E) Individuals continue to become better informed, but collectively, they avoid making choices.

Question 51

Individuals often rely on cues and instincts to make decisions, rather than on an analysis of detailed information. Scholars have termed such thinking as which of the following?

A) Self-interest rationalization
B) Low attention span
C) High attention syndrome
D) Low information rationality
E) High information rationality

Question 52

Which of the following best describes the views of African Americans on issues of social welfare, civil liberties, and foreign policy?

A) They are more likely to be Republican than whites.
B) They are more liberal than whites.
C) They are more likely to be politically neutral.
D) They are more conservative than whites.
E) They are more apolitical than whites.

Question 53

In 2009, Senator Arlen Specter did which of the following?

A) Left the Republican Party and became a Democrat
B) Left the Democratic Party and became a Republican
C) Left the Democratic Party and became an Independent
D) Retired from the Senate
E) Became Senate majority leader

Question 54

Which of the following describes an individual's status that is based on a combination of education, occupational status, and income?

A) Bimodal
B) Partisan
C) Political
D) Skewed
E) Socioeconomic

Question 55

President Gerald Ford not knowing how to eat a tamale and Governor Mitt Romney talking about his wife's Cadillacs hurt both candidates in connecting with voters and are examples of how voters applied which of the following concepts?

A) Low information rationality
B) High information rationality
C) Party identification
D) Elite influence
E) Party polarization

Question 56

The measurement of how ideologically coherent individuals are in their political evaluation is called which of the following?

A) Levels of conceptualization
B) Self-interest
C) The Likert scale
D) Socialization
E) Social prompting

Question 57

The difference between the percentage of women who vote for a particular candidate and the percentage of men who vote for that candidate is called which of the following?

A) The gender gap
B) The generational effect
C) The gendered opinion
D) The lifestyle effect
E) The sexist gap

Question 58

Which of the following statements pertaining to the relationship between policy mood and elections is true?

A) Policy mood is like a pendulum and does not appear to last for long periods.
B) Policy mood became more conservative following the election of every Republican president.
C) Policy mood became more liberal following the election of every Democratic president.
D) Policy mood has been stable for the past two decades.
E) Policy mood has been trending liberal since the Watergate scandal.

Question 59

A condition in which differences between parties and/or the public are so stark that disagreement breaks out, fueling attacks and controversy, is known as which of the following?

A) Partisanship
B) Socialization
C) Brinkmanship
D) Compromise
E) Polarization

Question 60

A set of coherent beliefs that offers a philosophy for thinking about the scope of government is referred to as which of the following?

A) Political ideology
B) Socialization
C) Political polarization
D) Self-interest
E) Political brinkmanship

Question 61

Explain the ways in which cell phones have affected polling and why this issue is important.

Question 62

Jewish voters tend to do which of the following?

A) Vote for candidates who are politically conservative
B) Vote at a lower rate than Protestants
C) Focus almost totally on domestic issues
D) Have more liberal views than average on economic and cultural issues
E) Have similar views to the overall population on political issues

Question 63

Which of the following describes voters who exhibit high degrees of religiosity and attend services regularly, regardless of church affiliation?

A) More likely to vote Republican
B) More likely to vote Democratic
C) More likely to vote for Independent and third-party candidates
D) Less likely to vote at all
E) Similar to the overall population in their political preferences

Question 64

Why is a random sample important in polling?

Question 65

Explain the principle of randomness in polling, and connect this principle to at least one other technique or problem in polling.

Question 66

Discuss three factors that might distort public opinion results collected through opinion polling.

Question 67

Discuss how assessing public opinion has changed since the 1930s.

Question 68

How does partisanship relate to public opinion?

Question 69

How does socioeconomic status influence a person's view?

Question 70

Identify and discuss the factors that can cause poll results to be wrong.

Question 71

Explain how modern polling can provide a fairly precise reading of public opinion.

Question 72

Evaluate the extent to which public opinion impacts the American presidency.

Question 73

Define public opinion.

Question 74

American women are more likely to support which of the following?

A) Capital punishment
B) Restrictions on access to abortions
C) Social welfare programs
D) Military interventions abroad
E) Legislation restricting the rights of homosexuals

Question 75

How does socialization affect partisanship, ideology, and public opinion?

Question 76

What is a push poll? When is it used?

Question 77

Which of the following describes the gender gap?

A) It is the difference in voter turnout among men and women.
B) It is the long-standing history of women favoring Republicans over Democrats.
C) It is the tendency of women to be more conservative than men.
D) It is the tendency of women to be more libertarian than men.
E) It is the difference in the percentage of women voting for a certain candidate and the percentage of men doing the same.

Question 78

Analyze the level of political trust in the American electorate.

Question 79

The contemporary political "gender gap" refers to the tendency of women to do which of the following?

A) Identify more with the Democratic Party than men do
B) Vote less than men do
C) Favor female candidates for office over male candidates
D) Pay less attention to politics than men do
E) Vote more for Republican candidates than men do

Question 80

What challenges are associated with accurate public opinion polling, and how can these challenges be overcome?