Deck 5: Public Opinion and the Media

Question 1

Public opinion is best defined as:

A) thoroughly informed attitudes about government performance
B) a random sample survey of voters during an election
C) people's core values
D) what the public thinks about government and politics
E) beliefs that remain stable throughout one's life

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Scholars have shown that even in the aftermath of major events,such as the September 11,2001 terrorist attacks,people rarely revise their opinions on such issues as civil liberties.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

People can typically explain the reasons for their political opinions,even on complicated issues such as global warming.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

People often form opinions on the spot,meaning that:

A) those opinions have essentially no meaning to the people who profess them
B) people rely very heavily on their principles in formulating opinions
C) people are sensitive to, and form their opinions based on, what they have recently seen or heard
D) their opinions are ill-informed and elected officials should simply ignore them
E) most of the research on public opinion should not be taken seriously

Question 5

Most people have political opinions that are similar to those of their parents because research shows that an individual's interactions with others while growing up can have a significant influence on an individual's political opinions later in life.

Question 6

Public opinion is worth examining because it helps explain the behavior of candidates,political parties,and other political actors.

Question 7

People who give answers that they believe interviewers want to hear are a problem for survey research because this can lead to social desirability bias.

Question 8

The regulation of broadcast media by the Federal Communications Commission reflects the assumption that the airways are public property.

Question 9

Public opinion research shows that broad beliefs such as what a person wants from government:

A) form early in life
B) are typically unstable throughout life
C) vary from the ages of eighteen through forty-five, but then stabilize
D) are difficult for researchers to measure, since so little is known about them
E) form later in life after age thirty, when a person learns more about how government operates

Question 10

A major problem with slanted news coverage is that it can never be objective,which makes it more difficult for the public to make informed political decisions.

Question 11

The United States has experienced a significant increase in ideological polarization in the past thirty years.

Question 12

An individual would be expressing what scholars call a "latent opinion" if asked for the first time to state a position on a complicated issue such as deficit reduction.

Question 13

Which of the following is a reason that public opinion matters in understanding American government?

A) Public opinion can help us understand and predict the decisions of the president, the Congress, and the Supreme Court.
B) Public opinion can help us understand why the American government tolerates and defends liberties such as freedom of speech.
C) Public opinion helps us understand how the media manipulate voters.
D) Public opinion can help us understand broader political outcomes, such as the fate of a legislative proposal.
E) Public opinion can help us understand why direct democracy is preferable to all other forms of government.

Question 14

A person's ideology at age twenty is generally a good predictor of that same person's ideology at age forty.

Question 15

Despite arguments to the contrary,there is no evidence that the Internet contributes to a better informed citizenry.

Question 16

Internet polls are considered more credible than those that use random digit dialing,because Internet polls typically rely on a more advanced method of random sampling.

Question 17

One of the most important ways that the media influence people is through their decisions of what to cover.This kind of filtering is practically unavoidable.

Question 18

Most people tend to form their political opinions "on the spot," based on considerations that come to mind immediately.

Question 19

Liberal-conservative ideology is a good example of:

A) a partisan opinion
B) an evolving opinion
C) a stable opinion
D) a latent opinion
E) a generational opinion

Question 20

Deregulation of media content occurred because Congress believed station owners were doing a good job in their role as public trustees to provide fair and unbiased information.

Question 21

What kind of poll is used to affect,rather than measure,public opinion?

A) a push poll
B) a robo poll
C) a random sample poll
D) an exit poll
E) an opinion poll that relies on random digit dialing

Question 22

Which of the following is considered a problem with mass surveys?

A) Random sampling produces sampling error in surveys.
B) Results are often inadvertently influenced by how questions are worded in the survey.
C) A typical mass survey of 1,000 people is simply not large enough to draw scientific conclusions about national public opinion.
D) Random digit dialing only reaches people with telephones, which biases the sample by over-representing the wealthy.
E) Organizations that conduct polls almost always skew their results to favor the candidate or party that they support.

Question 23

The purpose of a mass survey is to:

A) influence the public to support a particular candidate or policy
B) measure the attitudes of a particular population, such as the residents of a particular congressional district
C) instruct elected officials on how to vote on legislation
D) educate and inform the public about details of public policy
E) predict early in the presidential campaign who will win the election and why

Question 24

A ________ is defined as a large number of people who change from identifying with one political party to identifying with the other.

A) partisan event
B) realignment
C) policy mood shift
D) partisan conceptualization
E) political movement

Question 25

Research shows that growing up in a homogeneous community:

A) increases an adult's sense of civic duty
B) decreases the likelihood of voting in an election
C) increases support for Democrats
D) increases support for Republicans
E) makes people more even-handed and moderate in their political attitudes

Question 26

People often express different opinions on the same issue when asked about it at different times.This is because:

A) they have changed their minds after careful thought
B) the information that comes to mind when asked for their opinion changes
C) their principles, or values, have changed
D) the questions in most surveys are poorly worded
E) all surveys have sampling error

Question 27

According to the research of some political scientists,shifting public reaction against President Obama's heath care proposal was based on:

A) the haphazard way that people sought information about the proposal
B) the fact that most Americans have long opposed health care reform
C) the way that the proposal was framed by the mass media
D) which news organization conducted the survey
E) how opponents used images and made dire predictions of what the proposal might do

Question 28

Completing a civics class in high school has been shown to be important to political socialization in that:

A) it decreases the likelihood of a person protesting the actions of their government
B) it increases support for democracy as a system of government
C) it increases support for Democrats
D) it increases support for Republicans
E) it makes people more even-handed and moderate in their political attitudes

Question 29

According to the text,parents and children:

A) may share similar genes, but biological factors do not appear to shape political thinking
B) often disagree on the most controversial political issues
C) tend to share political principles that are almost always permanent
D) rarely share the same political ideology and partisanship
E) tend to share the same political ideology and partisanship

Question 30

An issue scale asks people:

A) to state how closely they are to one of several policy options
B) how liberal or conservative they feel
C) why they are Republican or Democrat
D) what policies are most important to them
E) to identify their socioeconomic status

Question 31

While 38 percent of those with a high-school education surveyed in the 2010 General Social Survey agree that the Bible is the literal word of God,only 11 percent of those with an advanced degree in the survey share that opinion.This difference is an example of what concept discussed in the text?

A) importance of groups in opinion formation
B) latent opinions
C) social desirability bias
D) political values
E) partisan preferences

Question 32

Opposition to the death penalty increased as media coverage of the death penalty put more emphasis on the possibility that innocent people were being mistakenly executed.This is an example of a phenomenon known as:

A) media bias
B) conceptualization
C) realignment
D) framing
E) ideological polarization

Question 33

According to some political scientists,how do group identities shape the decision someone faces when choosing between being a Republican or a Democrat?

A) Group identities shape one's social attitudes, which affect partisanship.
B) Group identities often influence socioeconomic status, which affect partisanship.
C) Group identities affect one's self-esteem, which influence partisanship.
D) Group identities influence a person's trust in government, which affect partisanship.
E) Group identities are important because a person thinks about which demographic groups are associated with each party and picks the party that has more members from the groups with whom he or she identifies.

Question 34

Many people's political opinions such as ideology and level of trust in others:

A) start with what they learned from their parents
B) are heavily influenced by the mass media
C) are primarily influenced by the success or failure of a president
D) start with how much they learn about government in school at a young age
E) change significantly with age

Question 35

A mass survey that seeks to understand public opinion toward President Obama's health care reform legislation would likely rely on:

A) a sample that attempted to contact the entire U.S. population
B) an oversample of only those who have voted in the previous election
C) a random sample of individuals who are registered to vote
D) an oversample of those who are highly educated, to ensure the questions are answered correctly
E) a random sample of between a few hundred and several thousand individuals

Question 36

A ________ is a way to measure public opinion by interviewing ________ population.

A) mass survey; the entire
B) mass survey; a large sample of the
C) focus group; the entire
D) focus group; a large sample of the
E) push poll; a random sample of the

Question 37

The fact that people are socialized into politics by their family and community means that:

A) they never modify their political principles
B) their opinions almost never change
C) very little thought goes into political opinions
D) events early in life can affect one's sense of civic duty into adulthood
E) other possible sources of influence, such as a high school civics class or political activity at a young age, have no real impact on one's political principles and opinions

Question 38

A ________ is a subgroup that is carefully chosen from a larger group of people.

A) random sample
B) population
C) push poll
D) sampling error
E) target population

Question 39

A Pew Research Center survey of 1,500 randomly selected people,with a sampling error of +/-3,showed that 52 percent of the respondents viewed the military effort in Afghanistan to be going well.Based on this result,what percentage of the population views the military effort in Afghanistan to be going well?

A) 52 percent
B) anywhere from 49 to 52 percent
C) anywhere from 52 to 55 percent
D) anywhere from 49 to 55 percent
E) sampling error and the question wording make it impossible to determine

Question 40

Political socialization refers to:

A) the process by which people become educated about democratic principles
B) attitudes toward social issues that come up in politics
C) the influence of politicians on people's views about society
D) the process by which an individual's political opinions are shaped by other people and the surrounding culture
E) the amount of time people spend socializing in a political environment

Question 41

When policy mood leans in a liberal direction,how does government tend to respond?

A) by giving tax cuts and tax credits to corporations
B) by reducing civil liberties
C) by expanding the federal government's role in different programs
D) by cutting off foreign trade
E) by following policies designed to reduce deficit spending

Question 42

Which of the following best describes the liberal-conservative profile of the American public?

A) A majority of Americans describe themselves as conservative.
B) Most Americans are neither strongly conservative nor strongly liberal.
C) Most Americans lean toward being more liberal than conservative or moderate.
D) Americans are deeply divided, with most of them being either strongly liberal or strongly conservative.
E) Research on the liberal-conservative profile of the American public is inconsistent, and has generally yielded inconclusive results.

Question 43

Although Americans generally tend to dislike ________,they are relatively happy with ________.

A) their own representatives; the American political system
B) the U.S. Congress as a whole; their own representatives
C) both of their state's U.S. senators; their representative in the U.S. House
D) democracy; their own representatives
E) the president; the federal government

Question 44

Climate change has been a difficult issue for members of Congress and the president to agree upon because:

A) Democrats and Republicans are sharply divided on the issue
B) the public's opinion is vastly different from the opinions shared by most members of Congress
C) the public's opinion differs sharply from the president's position
D) public opinion changes frequently on the issue
E) the issue involves science

Question 45

One way to get a good sample for a mass survey is with the use of:

A) volunteered responses
B) random digit dialing
C) issue scales
D) push polls
E) face-to-face interviews conducted between the hours of 9 A.M. to 5 P.M. from Monday through Friday

Question 46

Internet polls are usually not reliable because:

A) there is often a liberal bias in these polls
B) the sample is not random
C) of the frequency of computer users hitting the wrong key
D) many older Americans struggle to read from a computer screen and are prone to making errors in their responses
E) Internet polling firms are new to the business and are more likely to make errors

Question 47

Which of the following best describes trends in the public's policy mood during the late 1970s and early 1980s?

A) conservative
B) liberal
C) alternating between conservative and liberal extremes
D) moderate
E) impossible to determine because most polls have such high rates of sampling error

Question 48

When most citizens take on strongly conservative or strongly liberal identities,this is an example of:

A) opinion formation
B) political socialization
C) partisanship
D) polarization
E) political maturity

Question 49

People's views on how well the president is performing in office are an example of what type of political principle?

A) the public mood
B) a policy preference
C) ideology
D) an evaluation of government
E) partisanship

Question 50

Americans' collective demands for government action on domestic policies are measured by:

A) ideological polarization
B) policy mood
C) trust in government
D) partisanship
E) the reelection rates of incumbent officeholders

Question 51

The issue of immigration is a useful example of:

A) how much more conservative the public is compared to our elected officials
B) the higher level of conflict among elected officials than among the public
C) how elected officials can reach compromise on an issue that deeply divides the public
D) how deep partisan divisions in the public make it difficult for elected officials to reach compromise
E) the public's inconsistent and unstable opinions on difficult political issues

Question 52

Over the last three decades,how have the ideological views of the American public changed?

A) There has been a significant increase in the number of conservatives.
B) There has been a significant increase in the number of moderates.
C) There has been a significant increase in the number of liberals.
D) There has been no significant increase among liberals, moderates, or conservatives.
E) There is no conclusive evidence on this subject.

Question 53

Which of the following statements is true about trends in partisanship since the 1970s?

A) There are now more independents than there are either Democrats or Republicans.
B) There has been increased partisan polarization among Americans.
C) There has been a significant increase in the number of registered Republicans.
D) There have been no significant changes in the number of independents, Democrats, or Republicans.
E) There is no conclusive evidence on this subject.

Question 54

Based on public opinion polls,which of the following positions would we expect a liberal Democrat to hold?

A) a belief that there is solid evidence of global warming, but that government action is not required
B) a belief that civil unions should be allowed, but not gay marriage
C) a belief that civil unions and gay marriage should not be allowed
D) support for health insurance coverage for all Americans
E) Liberal Democrats generally hold none of the views listed above.

Question 55

Social desirability bias is a problem for surveys because:

A) it increases sampling error
B) the results fail to account for the opinions of the poor
C) the answers from respondents are not truthful
D) it skews the results in favor of Republican candidates
E) it skews the results in favor of Democratic candidates

Question 56

On which of the following subjects has there been substantial change in American attitudes since the 1960s?

A) trust in government
B) support for the Republican Party
C) support for the Democratic Party
D) support for expanded government services
E) support for a strong U.S. military

Question 57

Many scholars have argued that low levels of trust in government are significant because:

A) it can lead to ideological polarization
B) it creates less competitive elections
C) it can lead to elected officials ignoring the wishes of their constituents
D) it allows experienced politicians to more easily manipulate public opinion
E) it makes it harder for elected officials to enact new policies

Question 58

Based on public opinion polls,which of the following positions would we expect a conservative Republican to hold?

A) a belief that there is solid evidence of global warming, but that government action is not required
B) a belief that civil unions should be allowed, but not gay marriage
C) a belief that civil unions and gay marriage should not be allowed
D) support for health insurance coverage for all Americans
E) Conservative Republicans generally hold none of the views listed above.

Question 59

When it comes to health care:

A) the public is divided on whether or not we need reform
B) the public is largely unified in its opposition to any reform proposals
C) Americans cannot agree on the best solutions for health care problems
D) Republicans usually express very little interest in the issue
E) Republicans overwhelmingly favor ending all government health care programs, including Medicare

Question 60

Many opinion polls focus on evaluations of government and officeholders because:

A) most people enjoy following these polls
B) views on how government is performing are often an indicator of people's views on specific policies
C) political parties and campaigns use them to mobilize their supporters
D) the news organizations that sponsor them are attempting to shape public opinion by reporting the results of these polls
E) officeholders demand that this be done so that they have the information they need to serve their constituents

Question 61

The government's willingness to regulate broadcast media more heavily than print media reflects:

A) public demands for a better political balance on television
B) the history of partisan ownership of newspapers
C) the fact that the framers did not anticipate broadcasting and therefore could not protect it in the Constitution
D) the belief that the airways are public property
E) the creation of the twenty-four-hour news cycle

Question 62

All of the following are trends experienced by newspapers in recent years EXCEPT:

A) increasing ownership by large chains
B) decreasing circulation
C) reductions in the number of reporters
D) increase of online readers
E) increasing competition within markets from other papers

Question 63

The trend toward single-company ownership of several kinds of media outlets is known as:

A) cross-ownership
B) concentration
C) media conglomerates
D) networks
E) corporations

Question 64

Concerns about media concentration and cross-ownership are based on:

A) government hostility toward privately owned media
B) interpretations of freedom of the press
C) public standards about what constitutes quality news programming
D) the expansion of the Internet and other media technologies
E) beliefs that it is better for democracy if the press espouses many different views

Question 65

The major nationwide talk radio shows generally offer:

A) a politically liberal point of view
B) a politically conservative point of view
C) extensive news coverage throughout the day
D) a diversity of viewpoints
E) equal time to Democratic and Republican viewpoints

Question 66

Which of the following characteristics reduces the effectiveness of the Internet in creating informed citizens?

A) lower barriers to publication on the Internet
B) decreased competition among different media outlets because of the Internet
C) availability of search engines for finding sites
D) availability of videos of important political events
E) unreliability of many Internet sources

Question 67

By lowering the costs of publication,the Internet has spawned the growth of:

A) think tanks
B) homegrown media
C) op-eds
D) networks
E) newspapers

Question 68

The fairness doctrine required:

A) the media to be balanced in their coverage of anyone, giving both the good and the bad
B) television and radio to give the same amount of time to different political viewpoints
C) a variety of political views to be covered by the broadcast media
D) giving all companies a reasonable chance of owning multiple media outlets
E) equal coverage of the Democratic and Republican parties

Question 69

What impact have communications technologies like cable television and the Internet had on government regulation of the broadcast media?

A) They changed the assumption that each and every broadcast outlet needs to be fair and unbiased.
B) They led to stricter enforcement of the fairness doctrine.
C) They increased public concern about the need to regulate broadcast media, leading to the establishment of the Federal Communications Commission.
D) They led to the suspension of the fairness doctrine.
E) They led to the expansion of the equal time provision.

Question 70

How do the fairness doctrine and the equal time provision differ?

A) One requires reporters of different perspectives, whereas the other requires exactly the same number of reporters from both sides of the political aisle.
B) One requires balanced reporting while the other requires political programming to get the same amount of time as entertainment programming.
C) One requires a variety of political coverage while the other requires a specific amount of coverage.
D) There is almost no difference.
E) One regulates broadcasters while the other regulates print press.

Question 71

The example of the Iraq war illustrates how:

A) the public remains steadfast in support of military operations even amid protest from a small number of voters
B) the president of the United States can influence public opinion
C) changes in public opinion can lead to changes in the positions of members of Congress
D) the public is often confused by complex political issues
E) members of Congress rarely listen to or consider public opinion

Question 72

Which of the following events illustrates the potential importance of Internet content that comes from homegrown media?

A) video of George Allen's "macaca" comment
B) Howard Stern's decision to leave daytime radio
C) Alberto Gonzales's chat with citizens after publishing an op-ed
D) Chris Matthews's blog, Hardblogger
E) analysis of Supreme Court decisions on SCOTUSblog

Question 73

Scholars have found that congressional actions,on the whole,are:

A) rarely in line with the views of their constituents because few elected officials are knowledgeable about their constituents' opinions on issues
B) shaped by constituent opinion because to do otherwise would place elected officials in jeopardy of losing their next elections
C) very difficult to predict because public opinion is so difficult to measure accurately
D) determined more by the views of party leaders and political donors than their constituents
E) shaped by constituent opinion when the issues are not salient

Question 74

The Internet has had a major effect on political information in that it has:

A) improved the accuracy of political information available to people
B) made it easier for people to get information that previously was difficult to obtain
C) made people more interested in and aware of politics than at any other time in history
D) made people less trusting of government because politicians now have a more difficult time deceiving the public
E) improved people's tolerance of differing opinions because the Internet exposes people to multiple sides and positions on an issue of controversy

Question 75

Which television format is characterized by a person sitting behind a desk reading news copy?

A) talking head
B) investigative reporting
C) talk show
D) primetime
E) news cycle

Question 76

While there are numerous ways for people to obtain political information,social and protest movements,such as the Occupy Wall Street movement,have come to rely increasingly on spreading information through:

A) the broadcast media, which covers the event and conveys information to the mass public
B) 30-second television commercials to reach the widest audience possible
C) social media websites, such as Facebook and Twitter
D) journalists or other media gatekeepers who are sympathetic to liberal causes
E) alternative media outlets not affiliated with a corporate-owned media conglomerate

Question 77

Research on public opinion shows some considerable disagreement on some issues.The authors of the text argue that:

A) the so-called culture war is the primary source of these disagreements
B) despite these disagreements, public opinion surveys still show a willingness among Americans to accept compromise
C) despite these disagreements, Americans deserve credit for their expert knowledge on most political issues
D) conflict will only get worse until Americans become more knowledgeable about political issues, government, and their elected officials
E) compromise is unlikely and perhaps impossible in a large and diverse nation like the United States

Question 78

Which term describes a situation in which one company owns most of the media in a single community?

A) cross-ownership
B) concentration
C) a media conglomerate
D) homegrown media
E) filtering

Question 79

Which of the following is the best explanation for situations when government policy runs counter to public opinion?

A) It happens when there is no public consensus on what government should do.
B) It happens when politicians take money from special interests.
C) It happens when politicians stay in office for many years and become indifferent to public opinion.
D) It happens when politicians win elections easily and become arrogant.
E) It happens when party leaders become too powerful and can strong-arm members of Congress to vote with the party rather than with the public.

Question 80

All of the following are consequence of the Internet EXCEPT:

A) it created a foundation for a better informed citizenry
B) it increased access to original sources for political information
C) it increased competition among different media outlets
D) it made it possible for two-way communication between citizens and political elites
E) it provided easy access to videos of important political events