Deck 6: Public Opinion and Political Socialization

Question 1

An opinion leader is

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.

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Peer groups are most likely to influence political attitudes when

A) people are over the age of fifty.
B) it is not an election year.
C) people within the peer group do not have strong party identification.
D) the peer group is actively involved in political activities.
E) members of the peer group are all of the same gender.

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Determining which public policy questions will be debated or considered is known as

A) consensus building.
B) opinion leadership.
C) public opinion.
D) agenda setting.
E) political socialization.

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Private opinion becomes public opinion when

A) that opinion, regardless of its subject matter, is publicly expressed.
B) it concerns public issues and is publicly expressed.
C) an individual is polled by a major polling organization.
D) it is not divided.
E) it is articulated to at least ten other people.

Question 5

Typically, public opinion

A) is distributed between several different positions on issues.
B) is united in one position on important issues.
C) is a powerful force that influences policymakers.
D) is unimportant to political leaders.
E) Options A and C are true.

Question 6

Studies suggest that parents' political influence over their children is due to

A) the strong need of children for parental approval.
B) the ability of parents to communicate frequently with their children.
C) the ability of parents to communicate feelings and preferences to their children.
D) family links to other factors that affect opinion, such as race, social class, education, and religious beliefs.
E) All of the above are true.

Question 7

The Internet

A) serves as a gateway to online political activity.
B) serves as a gateway to offline political activity.
C) leads to a decrease in online political activity.
D) leads to a decrease in offline political activity.
E) Options A and B are true.

Question 8

General agreement among the citizenry on an issue is

A) a consensus.
B) divisive opinion.
C) reconciliation.
D) poll agreement.
E) no longer public opinion.

Question 9

Political socialization is the process by which

A) people form identification with their political party.
B) people acquire political values.
C) people acquire political beliefs.
D) people acquire political opinions and attitudes.
E) All of the above are true.

Question 10

Which of the following is true?

A) Older Americans tend to be more liberal than younger Americans.
B) Older Americans tend to be less concerned with their economic situations and are likely to have grown out of the social values they were taught in their youth.
C) More important than age is the impact of significant political events that shape the political attitudes of an entire generation.
D) The 1960s and 1970s, dominated by events such as Vietnam and Watergate, gave rise to widespread support of the government.
E) Based upon the economic prosperity that occurred under Ronald Reagan in the 1980s, many young people chose to identify with the Democratic Party.

Question 11

In a recent study, high school students most often said they base their views on information they obtained from

A) mass media.
B) family.
C) peers.
D) school.
E) church.

Question 12

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

A) opinion leadership.
B) political socialization.
C) agenda setting.
D) peer grouping.
E) consensus building.

Question 13

The generational effect refers to the

A) 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) way in which the family influences opinions.

Question 14

All of the following are true of public opinion except

A) it plays a small role in our political system.
B) it can be expressed by letters written to newspapers.
C) it is shared in online forums.
D) it can be powerful.
E) it can be shaped by political leaders.

Question 15

The new forms of media

A) have brought Americans closer to each other politically.
B) such as talk radio have been dominated by liberals.
C) like blogs have often changed people from liberals to conservatives.
D) like blogs, talk radio and cable news channels have increased political polarization.
E) All the above are true.

Question 16

Researchers now believe they can make generalizations about the mood of the country as

A) it swings to the political right or left.
B) it tends to swing in a more liberal direction when the federal government successfully intervenes in difficult economic times.
C) it tends to swing in a more conservative direction when government fails in controlling gas prices or consumer interest rates.
D) the electorate tends to move away from a President who proposes very liberal or conservative policies.
E) All of the above are true.

Question 17

The transfer of political values is

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

Question 18

Here are the results of a 2012 opinion poll that measured public support for gay marriage. (Favor: 48%; Oppose: 44%. Don't know/No answer: 8%.) The results show an example of __________ opinion.

A) consensus
B) divided
C) dubious
D) favorable
E) unified

Question 19

The Fairness Doctrine

A) is a rule that requires media outlets to avoid coverage of controversial.
B) was abolished in 1987.
C) encourages programming like modern conservative and liberal talk radio.
D) was implemented in the early 1900s by the Federal Election Commission.
E) All of the above are true.

Question 20

Researchers report that they can now predict election winners by

A) seeing if they have a Google+ account or not.
B) measuring the candidate's Twitter momentum.
C) measuring the number of attendees at their rallies.
D) measuring their number of Facebook friends.
E) None of the above is true.

Question 21

American women are more likely to support

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 22

In the twentieth century, the magazine, Literary Digest

A) enjoyed readership across the economic spectrum and provided accurate polling data of prospective voters.
B) was popular with wealthier subscribers and polling by the journal inaccurately predicted Franklin D. Roosevelt's defeat in the 1936 presidential election.
C) was popular with factory workers and a survey of subscribers predicted the election of Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1936.
D) held a perfect record of presidential election predictions based on polling from questionnaires.
E) Options A and D are true.

Question 23

Usually, the Gallup or Roper polls interview

A) people three to four times to insure accuracy.
B) about 1,500 people in a nationwide sample.
C) over 100,000 people in each random sample for presidential elections.
D) people who have been selected based on their intelligence.
E) using quota samples.

Question 24

A random sample means that

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 25

To accurately represent the target population, a small sample should be

A) randomly selected.
B) representative of the whole group.
C) representative in terms of demographic traits (age, region, religion, race, and the like).
D) representative in terms of opinions.
E) All of the above are true.

Question 26

Having a college education

A) no longer means that an individual is likely to vote for a particular party.
B) is associated with a greater tendency to vote Democratic.
C) is associated with a greater tendency to vote Republican.
D) is associated with opposition to cultural liberalism.
E) is associated with a greater tendency to abstain from voting.

Question 27

Modern polling techniques using market research was developed in the

A) 1890s by George Orwell and Theodore Roosevelt.
B) 1930s by George Gallup, Elmo Roper and Archibald Crossley.
C) 1940s at Harvard University.
D) 1960s at the Census Bureau.
E) 1970s by Zogby.

Question 28

Which of the following is an incorrect statement?

A) Overall, Hispanics have favored the Democrats.
B) Cuban Americans are more likely to support Republicans than Democrats.
C) Asian American groups have usually leaned to the Democrats.
D) Muslim Americans today represent one of the nation's most Democratic blocs.
E) Most African Americans have supported the Republican Party since the 1930s.

Question 29

The rich tend to be

A) economically and socially conservative.
B) economically and socially liberal.
C) economically liberal and socially conservative.
D) economically conservative and socially liberal.
E) similar to the overall population in political preferences.

Question 30

In recent years,

A) businesspersons have moved toward supporting the Democrats.
B) professionals with advanced degrees have moved toward supporting the Democrats.
C) businesspersons have remained largely Democratic.
D) professionals with advanced degrees have remained largely Republican.
E) it has become clear that there is no relationship between whether a person is a businessperson or a professional and the party they will endorse.

Question 31

People's attitudes toward a candidate

A) are affected by emotions such as trust towards a candidate.
B) can be influenced by a recent political scandal.
C) can be affected by the candidate's personality or image.
D) can be influenced by the candidate's stance on economic issues.
E) All of the above are true.

Question 32

With regard to voting,

A) African American voters strongly support Democrats.
B) evangelicals are split politically between liberals and conservatives.
C) fundamentalists most often are conservative.
D) church attendance seems to influence voting patterns.
E) All the above are true.

Question 33

Currently, which of the following regions are more supportive of the Democrats than the Republicans?

A) The South and the Rocky Mountain states
B) The South and the Great Plains
C) The Great Plains, and the Rocky Mountain states
D) The Northeast and the West Coast
E) The South, Great Plains, and the Rocky Mountain states

Question 34

The results of an opinion poll

A) are usually reported in terms of a specific number.
B) should be reported as a range of numbers to be more accurate.
C) usually are accompanied by a specific margin of error.
D) may be reported daily as a tracking poll.
E) All of the above are true.

Question 35

Social Scientist Charles Murray suggests in a recent book that

A) America is becoming more polarized in matters of race.
B) America is becoming a two-caste society with an increasing gap between rich and poor.
C) America is becoming more diverse, which is narrowing the income gap between rich and poor.
D) America is becoming more traditional in terms of family structure.
E) All of the above are true.

Question 36

Polls may be more accurate if the sample is

A) truly random.
B) weighted to correct missing data from underrepresented groups.
C) weighted to make up for day to day swings in public sentiment.
D) corrected for pollster bias.
E) Options A and B are true.

Question 37

African Americans today tend to be

A) more conservative than whites on all issues.
B) less liberal than whites on all issues.
C) supportive of the Republican party.
D) somewhat conservative on certain cultural issues such as gay marriage and abortion.
E) Independents and not supportive of either Republicans or Democrats.

Question 38

Jewish voters tend to

A) vote for candidates that are politically conservative.
B) vote at a lower rate than Protestants.
C) focus almost totally on domestic issues.
D) be more liberal than average on economic and cultural issues.
E) be similar to the overall population in political preferences.

Question 39

In presidential elections, manual laborers, factory workers and union members are

A) more likely to vote for Republican candidates.
B) more likely to vote for Democratic candidates.
C) likely to split their vote between the two major parties.
D) more likely to vote for socialist candidates.
E) more likely to vote for communist libertarian candidates.

Question 40

The gender gap

A) was first revealed in polling in the 1980s.
B) was first revealed in polling in the 1960s.
C) is the difference between the percentage of women and men who vote for a particular candidate.
D) is the difference between the number of men and women who turn out to vote in elections.
E) Options A and C are true.

Question 41

Which of the following is true about technology and opinion poll?

A) It is easy to secure phone numbers due to Skype and voice-over-Internet services.
B) Polling firms can survey all phone numbers regardless of the service provider.
C) Many pollsters are using scripts read by a machine called robopolls.
D) Robopolls are more accurate than live interviews.
E) Most Americans are eager to participate in telephone polling dealing with political issues.

Question 42

One of the problems with polls is

A) they may fail to measure the impact of undecided voters.
B) because they are a snapshot in time, polls may fail to detect last minute shifts in the electorate.
C) they are based on a random sample.
D) the results are affected by the news media.
E) Options A and B are true.

Question 43

The values that shape American political culture include all of the following except

A) freedom.
B) liberty.
C) equality.
D) property.
E) government control of the economy.

Question 44

Since the early 1990s the American people have consistently shown more confidence in _________ than any other institution.

A) public schools
B) organized labor
C) big business
D) the military
E) television news

Question 45

Push polls

A) have been determined to be illegal in 23 states.
B) are always conducted face-to-face rather than by telephone.
C) are so controversial that very few candidates have chosen to use them.
D) 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) are now used throughout all levels of U.S. politics-local, state, and federal.

Question 46

Which of the following is true?

A) Telephone polling began to predominate over in-person polling in the 1940s.
B) Telephone polling remains a popular option even though it is more expensive and takes more time than in-person polling.
C) With the pervasiveness of telemarketing, people have now grown accustomed to being solicited over the telephone and respond well to telephone polling.
D) Those conducting telephone polls have designed technological improvements that allow them to bypass caller ID and other forms of call screening.
E) Cell phone numbers are not included in random digit dialing programs or listed in telephone directories, limiting the ability of telephone polls to reach many people.

Question 47

Public opinion supports

A) the general idea of paying more for education.
B) increasing the spending per student to more than the current $12,922 per year.
C) spending more on education across political parties.
D) the idea that U.S. public schools are doing a good job in educating our children.
E) All of the above are true.

Question 48

A consistent difference between polling results between firms is

A) caused by secret in-house weighting schemes.
B) caused by inaccurate sampling.
C) known as the house effect.
D) Options A and C are true.
E) All of the above are true.

Question 49

Public confidence in

A) the military has increased likely due to the military's role in the war on terrorism.
B) religion has decreased due to sex scandals.
C) in Congress has increased due to the passage of healthcare reform.
D) Options A and B are true.
E) All of the above are true.

Question 50

The 2012 contraception insurance policy controversy can be described as a debate over

A) whether employers should cover contraception in insurance plans for employees.
B) whether religious organizations such as churches that oppose birth control should pay for such coverage.
C) whether institutions like schools and hospitals must offer coverage for contraception.
D) Options A and C are true.
E) All of the above are true.

Question 51

All are true of public opinion and polls except

A) polls show that people give Congress a high rating.
B) in 2009 and 2010 polls showed that "most important problems" in the United States were the economy and unemployment.
C) public opinion can have an impact on government policies.
D) public opinion can put limits on what government does.
E) polls indicate that a majority of the public believe that public opinion should influence public policy.

Question 52

All of the following are true of public opinion polls except

A) poll results are not equally good or equally believable.
B) knowing what makes a poll accurate is not as important as the results of the poll.
C) polls based on scientific or random samples are the most valid.
D) polls that consist of shopping mall interviews may produce inaccurate results.
E) well-designed polls based on probability samples may result in ninety-five percent accuracy.

Question 53

Public opinion polls

A) give exact guidance on how policy makers should act.
B) provide information that sets a limit on government actions.
C) over time, push policymakers to change their position on most issues.
D) are helpful to policymakers because they transmit the public's clear opinion on every issue.
E) All of the above are true.

Question 54

The answers given by respondents to poll questions are influenced by all of the following except

A) the order in which questions are asked.
B) poorly designed questions that tip respondents in a particular direction.
C) a yes/no format that restricts the respondents' choices.
D) compensation offered to the respondents.
E) the possible range of answers to the questions presented.

Question 55

American political culture

A) can be described as a set of attitudes and ideas about the nation and government.
B) consists of symbols such as the American flag, the Liberty Bell, and the Statue of Liberty.
C) provides support for the political system.
D) All of the above are true.
E) None of the above is true.

Question 56

The degree to which individuals express trust in the government is called

A) partisan identification.
B) political trust.
C) universal suffrage.
D) public opinion.
E) political culture.

Question 57

Recent allegations of polling fraud have included

A) concerns about secret in-house weights being added to results.
B) concerns that results were fabricated.
C) concerns that reader surveys are being published as scientific polls.
D) Skype users flooding poll results with duplicate entries.
E) Options B and C are true.

Question 58

Spending on public schools

A) has risen several times to an average of $12,500 per students.
B) is favored by a majority of those surveyed.
C) has a been a point of contention between Republicans and Democrats.
D) has dipped recently due to budget issues.
E) All of the above are true.

Question 59

Public opinion affects the political process

A) because it is a source of power for elected officials who take positions supported by the people.
B) despite the fact that most candidates dismiss public opinion as an effective means of identifying issues of concern.
C) because it allows the media to control the government.
D) because it is more important than elections in bringing about change in the government.
E) despite the fact that public opinion polls hardly ever reflect public opinion accurately.

Question 60

Respondents are given misleading information in the questions they are asked in order to persuade them to vote against a candidate in

A) convention polls.
B) publicity polls.
C) push polls.
D) scientific polls.
E) pundit polls.

Question 61

Describe the significance and possible origins of the gender gap.

Question 62

Explore the means by which political socialization occurs in the United States.

Question 63

Discuss four things that influence one's public opinion.

Question 64

Describe the concept of a generational effect and provide examples of its impact on public opinion.

Question 65

Explain the generalizations that can be made about the swings in political mood of the electorate.

Question 66

Which institutions in the United States hold American's trust and which do not? Explain the reasons why some institutions are held in high esteem and others are not.

Question 67

Describe the ways in which social media on the Internet can be employed by candidates and political groups.

Question 68

Describe the history of public opinion polls and explain why they have sometimes been inaccurate in major electoral contests.

Question 69

Explain how demographic influences shape voting behavior.

Question 70

When conducting a public opinion poll, what things must be taken into consideration and what problems might there be?