Term
| Which of the following best describes the difference between attitudes and opinions? |
|
Definition
| Attitudes are an internal feeling about an issue, while an opinion is the outward expression of that feeling. |
|
|
Term
| Which of the following statements best describes the argument put forth by Rosalee Clawson and Zoe Oxley’s article “Public opinion: Democratic ideals, democratic practice”? |
|
Definition
| The authors explore normative issues related to how the public should function in a democracy. |
|
|
Term
| The institutional mechanism of “checks and balances”, currently put in place in the United States national government, is most directly inspired by which of the following thinkers: |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| What was George Gallup’s contribution to public opinion? |
|
Definition
| Gallup was the first pollster to scientifically measure public opinion. |
|
|
Term
| Which of the following best describes the effect deliberation has on public opinion? |
|
Definition
| Deliberation has the ability to increase cognitive processing of issue considerations and can increase participation. |
|
|
Term
| Which of the following best describes Thomas Hobbes argument about the role of public opinion in government? |
|
Definition
Public opinion and its leaders are connected in that the public cannot
function without the protection of its leaders and the public has the ability to recall the government. |
|
|
Term
| Which political thinker believed that public opinion should only exist as a vessel of expression for people to air their grievances against government? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| Which political thinker believed that public opinion reached its highest form as the absolute final word on politics when it took both the individual and community will into account? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| Aristotle believed public opinion was important, but: |
|
Definition
| Public opinion is unequal in terms of which citizens have more of a say in public affairs. |
|
|
Term
| Which of the following statements is true about the Founders view of public opinion? |
|
Definition
The Founders found that representative government was the best solution for the problem of factions amongst the public.
The Founders created institutional mechanisms in order to protect the public from unscrupulous representatives. |
|
|
Term
| Which political thinker wrote that leaders should have complete control over public opinion in autocratic governments? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| Which of the following best describes the reason why Walter Lippman was so skeptical of public opinion? |
|
Definition
| Public opinion could incorrectly assess situations and have detrimental effects to society. |
|
|
Term
| Which of the following best describes Plato’s beliefs about public opinion in a democracy |
|
Definition
| Only leaders, and not the general public, have the wisdom to rationalize and process the functions of government. |
|
|
Term
| Blumer and Rogers skepticism of public opinion is most closely associated to which of the following scholars whose work highlighted the inability of scientific methods to accurately measure public opinion? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| Which of the following is a problem with James Fishkin’s deliberative poll? |
|
Definition
| The poll is not generalizable to the greater public. |
|
|
Term
| Which of the following best characterizes the state of public opinion research since the Founding? |
|
Definition
| Research in public opinion is trending more towards empirical studies. |
|
|
Term
| Which of the following best describes Alexis de Tocqueville’s argument about public opinion in the United States? |
|
Definition
| The public was able to communicate their preferences through community meetings, highlighting the nature of representation in US government. |
|
|
Term
| Which political thinker believed that public opinion legitimized government but institutional barriers needed to be put into place to limit the total influence of the public? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| Self-selection bias most greatly influences which of the following types of data collection? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| As a survey researcher, you are particularly interested in measuring political efficacy. Which of the following questions on efficacy encounters the most significant problems with question validity? |
|
Definition
| Do you believe that voting is the only way people have a say in government? |
|
|
Term
| Which of the following should a trained interviewer avoid while conducting an interview for academic research? |
|
Definition
| Correcting a respondent if the information they provide in a response is factually inaccurate. |
|
|
Term
| A poll asks the following question: “If the 2012 presidential election were held today, would you vote for Barack Obama or Mitt Romney?” This question is best described as which of the following type of survey or poll? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| Which of the following is a reason for why the public should familiarize themselves with polling? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| The increasing use of phone technologies like caller-ID, voicemail, and answering machines poses what problem in survey research? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| A poll or survey that assesses the name recognition of a potential candidate for public office is best known as: |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| In Peverill Squire’s article “Why the 1936 Literary Digest Poll Failed”, what methodology did Squire use to test his hypotheses about why the Literary Digest incorrectly predicted the 1936 presidential election? |
|
Definition
| Squire utilized a separate postelection poll. |
|
|
Term
| In Peverill Squire’s article “Why the 1936 Literary Digest Poll Failed”, what was the possible explanation for why the Literary Digest incorrectly predicted the 1936 presidential election? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| Deliberative groups and focus groups both suffer from which of the following problems? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| I am conducting a study in Santa Barbara County on donors to political campaigns. The master list of donors provided by the federal government is incomplete, but small enough where I can administer a paper questionnaire to everyone on that list. In that questionnaire, I ask those people to provide the contact information of other donors they might know to send them the same questionnaire. This type of sampling is best known as: |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| Which type of data collection can take months to conduct, but requires no training? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| Which of the following correctly describes the sample of the study: |
|
Definition
The sample size should generate a low sampling error.
The sample size should generate a high confidence interval. |
|
|
Term
| Which of the following is TRUE about the study? |
|
Definition
| This study systematically excludes some portion of residents in Santa Barbara County. |
|
|
Term
| True or False. This study uses the the probability-proportionate-to-size (PPS) sampling technique. |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| Political socialization refers to the process by which we: |
|
Definition
| Develop our own political beliefs. |
|
|
Term
| How are political scientists able to empirically verify that transmission effects in socialization may occur via genetics? |
|
Definition
| Twins who share the same DNA are shown to have highly correlated political opinions. |
|
|
Term
| At what stage of development does a child begin to learn the critical ideals of citizenship in a democracy, yet still idolize politicians? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| The death of Osama Bin Laden can be best described as an example of what type of adult socialization effect? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| True or False. As time passes, a spouse generally fails to influence your political attitudes and opinions |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| Which of the following statements best describes the adult socialization process? |
|
Definition
| As adults, people are much less receptive to outside ideas and opinions. |
|
|
Term
| Since 1972, The Washington Post has reported that people over the age of 60 are more likely to identify as Republican whereas people aged 18-29 are more likely to identify as Democrat. This is known as which of the following: |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| Which of the following is not one of the main problems with research on child development in socialization? |
|
Definition
| The four stages of development are not inclusive of developmental milestones that occur in middle childhood. |
|
|
Term
| At what stage of development can a child personally identify the president, yet their knowledge of politics still contains massive factual inaccuracies? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| True or false. In adolescence, children tend to no longer revere political order. |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| What did M. Kent Jennings, Laura Stoker, and Jake Bowers’ discuss in the article “Politics Across Generations”? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| What type of study/methodology did M. Kent Jennings, Laura Stoker, and Jake Bowers use in the article “Politics Across Generations”? |
|
Definition
| A panel study using probability-proportionate-to-size sampling. |
|
|
Term
| Which of the following statements most closely approximates a finding of M. Kent Jennings, Laura Stoker, and Jake Bowers’ article “Politics Across Generations”? |
|
Definition
| Attitudes were transferred from parents to children, no matter the cohort. |
|
|
Term
| True or False. Peer groups are more influential than family as an agent of socialization |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| The major characteristic of family socialization that states: political attitudes learned from the family are those that are learned first is also known as the: |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| At what stage of development does our political knowledge reach levels that we maintain throughout our adult lives? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| Collective opinion on government spending on crime would reveal which of the following trends? |
|
Definition
| Collective public opinion regarding government spending on crime remains relatively consistent over time. |
|
|
Term
| Which of the following best explains how subconscious or subliminal messages can affect your political attitudes? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| Which of the following statements is true about the article “Ten Years After 9/11: United in remembrance, divided over policies”? |
|
Definition
| Collective public opinion about terrorism and security has changed since 2001. |
|
|
Term
| Which of the following best describes why John Zaller disagreed with Phillip Converse? |
|
Definition
| Zaller believed that people held strong belief systems although psychological processing makes attitudes seem inconsistent. |
|
|
Term
| People who use ideology in a peripheral way, but may sometimes incorrectly link specific policy positions to their ideologies as a result are best known as: |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| Which of the following is true about political ideology? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| The ecological fallacy is best explained as which of the following: |
|
Definition
| When opinions are aggregated, it is impossible to infer the status of a single individual based on those aggregate statistics. |
|
|
Term
| True or False: Phillip Converse’s study on attitude stability was conducted as a panel study of political opinions. |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| Which of the following is not a problem with Converse’s study on attitude stability? |
|
Definition
| Concrete belief systems are responsible for different survey responses from one time to another. |
|
|
Term
| Which of the following is John Zaller’s axiom that asserts that the most available attitudes are those that are based on the most recent considerations that have come to your mind? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| Which of the following best describes a belief system? |
|
Definition
| A belief system is a constraint around a series of interdependent ideas and attitudes. |
|
|
Term
| Heuristics, personality, and selective perception are explanations for: |
|
Definition
| The ability to process political attitudes without a stable political ideological belief system. |
|
|
Term
| Which of the following is a finding from Phillip Converse’s study of attitude consistency? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| Which of the following is not one of John Zaller’s four axioms in his file- drawer-method of attitude processing? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| Which of the following is not a theory that explains political attitudes as a strategy for meeting a variety of personal needs? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| The Daily Beast and Newsweek teamed together to assess the nature of political knowledge in the electorate. Which of the following is not one of their findings? |
|
Definition
| Most Americans only need to know a small amount of political information to be engaged citizens. |
|
|
Term
| Which of the following statements about political knowledge is not true? |
|
Definition
| People extensively recognize the rules by which the government operates (such as the percentage of votes needed to overcome a presidential veto in Congress). |
|
|
Term
| What do Michael Delli Carpini and Scott Keeter set out to do in the article “Measuring Political Knowledge: Putting First Things First”? |
|
Definition
| They intend to provide a valid and reliable index of political knowledge questions for political scientists. |
|
|
Term
| What is the methodology used by Michael Delli Carpini and Scott Keeter in their article “Measuring Political Knowledge: Putting First Things First”? |
|
Definition
| A telephone survey of a national random sample. |
|
|
Term
| What did Michael Delli-Carpini and Scott Keeter find in “Measuring Political Knowledge: Putting First Things First”? |
|
Definition
A particular set of five knowledge questions can accurately describe
political knowledge better than an index with ten or more questions. |
|
|
Term
| In the PEW Research Group article “Public knowledge of current affairs little changed by news and information revolutions: What Americans know: 1989- 2007”, the authors investigate which of the following? |
|
Definition
| Levels of political knowledge |
|
|
Term
| Which of the following is not considered to be a determinant of political knowledge? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
Which of the following has no bearing on an individual’s opportunity to learn
about politics? |
|
Definition
| An innate interest in politics. |
|
|
Term
| Which of the following statements about education and political knowledge is not true? |
|
Definition
| Those who are less educated have a greater sense of political efficacy. |
|
|
Term
| Partially because of increasingly diminishing abilities, which age cohort tends to suffer in their relative levels of political knowledge when compared to other age cohorts? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| True or False. People in higher income brackets tend to score higher on political knowledge tests. |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| Which of the following types of people are most likely to be politically knowledgeable? |
|
Definition
| A white, older, educated, rich man |
|
|
Term
| Which of the following is not considered to be a determinant of political knowledge? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
Which of the following has no bearing on an individual’s opportunity to learn
about politics? |
|
Definition
| An innate interest in politics. |
|
|
Term
| Which of the following statements about education and political knowledge is not true? |
|
Definition
| Those who are less educated have a greater sense of political efficacy. |
|
|
Term
| Partially because of increasingly diminishing abilities, which age cohort tends to suffer in their relative levels of political knowledge when compared to other age cohorts? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| True or False. People in higher income brackets tend to score higher on political knowledge tests. |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| Which of the following types of people are most likely to be politically knowledgeable? |
|
Definition
| A white, older, educated, rich man |
|
|
Term
| Which of the following statements about political knowledge is not true? |
|
Definition
| People who are politically knowledgeable are more likely to be narrow-minded. |
|
|
Term
| As a person scores higher on a political knowledge test, which of the following is not true about their habits of political participation? |
|
Definition
| They are less likely to boycott a corporation. |
|
|
Term
| True or False. Low levels of political knowledge in the American electorate threatens the status of the United States as a true participatory democracy and thus may be more accurately characterized as an elite democracy. |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| Which of the following statements best explains the relationship between demographics and voting? |
|
Definition
| Since demographics and political knowledge are correlated, we expect that political knowledge and political participation to be related. |
|
|
Term
| What was the main point of the lecture on race, ethnicity, and participation? |
|
Definition
| The lecturer compared minorities and whites on different participatory acts and issues. |
|
|
Term
| What is the 80-20 Initiative? |
|
Definition
| The 80-20 Initiative is a political action committee that attempts to mobilize 80% of Asian Americans to vote for the presidential candidate who best represents the interests of Asian Americans. |
|
|
Term
| Which of the following statements does not describe why voting behavior research is important? |
|
Definition
| Other forms of political behavior are too abstract and difficult to study. |
|
|
Term
| Which of the following statements best explains the main point of the article “Turnout in Elections” by André Blais? |
|
Definition
| Blais attempts to compare the aggregate and individual perspectives of turnout in academic research. |
|
|
Term
| What is the main difference between using the Collaborative Multi-Ethnic Post- Election Study and the American National Election Studies? |
|
Definition
| The Collaborative Multi-Ethnic Post-Election Study oversamples the four largest racial/ethnic groups. |
|
|
Term
| True or False. Voting has direct consequences for political mobilization and who wins political office. |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| Which racial group turned out at the highest rate in the 2008 presidential election? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| Which racial group was the least likely to indicate support for California’s Proposition 8 (which was against gay marriage)? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| Which racial group was the least likely to indicate strong support for immigration and the Dream Act? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| Which of the following is not true about racial groups and their support of Barack Obama/John McCain? |
|
Definition
| All of the above statements are true. |
|
|
Term
| True or False. All racial groups are more likely to indicate strong support (rather than weak support or opposition) for government health care. |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| Which of the following is not true about the relationship between race/ethnicity and political participation? |
|
Definition
| Whites take part in protests more than any other racial group. |
|
|
Term
| Which of the following is a reason (discussed in lecture) for why race and ethnicity is an important area of study? |
|
Definition
Race and ethnicity can be a proxy for real differences in political behavior.
We will continue to see increased political mobilization along racial/ethniclines. |
|
|
Term
| Which of the following is not a mechanism through which race and ethnicity can potentially affect political participation? |
|
Definition
| Racial and ethnic groups enjoy more institutional and government benefits which can affect levels of political participation. |
|
|
Term
| True or False. Race can be seen as a proxy for the differences we see in voting behavior. |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| True or False. The study of electoral behavior attempts to explain people’s opinions and choices on Election Day. |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| Which of the following statements best explains the main point of the article “The Study of Electoral Behavior” by Larry Bartels? |
|
Definition
| Bartels aims to provide a selective summary of the history of voting behavior, focusing on developments that have been important in shaping the field. |
|
|
Term
| Which of the following is true regarding the sample used by the Columbia Model? |
|
Definition
| The study picked a moderately sized industrial city as its sample. |
|
|
Term
| Which of the following statements most accurately describes the original hypothesis of the Columbia Model? |
|
Definition
| Political opinions and political decisions are made in a marketplace where voters select the ideas that appeal to them the most. |
|
|
Term
| Based on the initial findings of the Columbia Model, which of the following statements does not match the expectations of the Index of Political Predispositions? |
|
Definition
| Working-class Jewish people were more likely to vote Republican. |
|
|
Term
| Which of the following is not one of the social groups represented by the Index of Political Predispositions? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| Which of the following is one of the criticisms of the Columbia Model? |
|
Definition
| The sample is not generalizable to the national population. |
|
|
Term
| The Michigan Model incorporates which of the following portions of the earlier Columbia Model: |
|
Definition
| The Michigan Model maintains that social groups are an important determinant of vote choice. |
|
|
Term
| Which of the following is true about the Michigan Model sample? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| Which of the following statements describes the order of considerations in the funnel of causality from most influential to least influential? |
|
Definition
| Party identification-candidate performance-issue considerations |
|
|
Term
| Which of the following is not a criticism of the Michigan Model? |
|
Definition
| The Michigan Model cannot explain why group behaviors change over time. |
|
|
Term
| True or False. Rationality can be explained as voters who select the party, candidate, or issue that provides the maximum amount of benefit with the lowest costs of all available alternatives. |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| If the equation E(UAt+1) - E(UBt+1) yields a negative value, what is the likely outcome? |
|
Definition
| An individual will be more likely to vote for party B over party A. |
|
|
Term
| The outcome of the equation E(V) = B x P – C + D is an indicator of which of the following? |
|
Definition
| The likelihood that an individual will vote. |
|
|
Term
| In the equation E(V) = B x P – C, if the value of P is .00001, which of the following is likely to be the outcome? (Note that D is purposely missing from the equation.) |
|
Definition
The voter will not be likely to vote.
The low value of P will nullify any benefit that comes from voting. |
|
|
Term
| True or False. According to the Calculus of Voting model, the main factor that keeps turnout rates from falling to more drastic levels is a citizens’ sense of civic duty. |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| Who is the Isla Vista median voter most likely to vote for in the upcoming California Assembly Election for the 35th District? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| Given that the California Assembly is more conservative than all ideal points on this ideological spectrum, how is Das Williams likely to move on the ideological space if he wants to please the California Assembly? |
|
Definition
Das Williams will move right, as close to Mike Stoker as possible, but
will not move to the right of Stoker’s ideal point. |
|
|
Term
| Which of the following statements best describes the definition of an ideal point in the Spatial Model of Voting? |
|
Definition
| An ideal point is the point on an ideological spectrum where the utility of an individual’s decision is maximized. |
|
|
Term
| For the median voter hypotheses to hold true, which of the following conditions must be satisfied? |
|
Definition
There has to be only two dominant parties in government.
Voters must have single-peaked preferences, meaning one ideal point provides the maximum amount of utility for voters. |
|
|
Term
| Which of the following is not one of the requirements for the Spatial Model of Voting? |
|
Definition
| Voters need to display their opinion on the issue. |
|
|
Term
| Which of the following is not one of the criticisms of Rational Choice Models? |
|
Definition
Rational Choice Models are at an initial disadvantage because they
are methodologically flawed in their sampling design. |
|
|
Term
| What form of participation is the most popular in the American electorate? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| Which of the following is true about nontraditional forms of participation in the United States? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| In Carl Franzen’s article “What Occupy Wall Street Wants,” how did Franzen assess the demands of the Occupy Wall Street movement? |
|
Definition
| Franzen did a content analysis of the Occupy Movement’s blog to assess the demands made by the protesters. |
|
|
Term
| Which of the following is the best explanation of the toolbox analogy of political participation? |
|
Definition
| Some individuals are more skilled at certain acts of participation than others, thus those individuals prefer to participate in ways that draw directly upon those skills. |
|
|
Term
| In lecture, we discussed several resources that promote political participation. Which of the following was not one of the resources that we discussed? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| True or False. Protest politics denotes the deliberate and public use of symbolic dissent by groups or organizations to seek influence in a political decision or process. |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| Who is most directly responsible for originating the idea of the Occupy Wall Street protests? |
|
Definition
| AdBusters, a Canadian interest group |
|
|
Term
| What official demands have been made from the Occupy Wall Street protesters? |
|
Definition
| The Occupy Movement has made no official list of demands. |
|
|
Term
| Participant observation of the Occupy Santa Barbara protests revealed which of the following details about the protest? |
|
Definition
| The Occupy Santa Barbara protests have nightly general assembly meetings where people voice their grievances in a group discussion. |
|
|
Term
| What role does the audience play in protest politics? |
|
Definition
| Protesters aim to gain the attention of the audience in order to influence government to change policy. |
|
|
Term
| What is the main difference between quantitative and qualitative methodology? |
|
Definition
| Quantitative research attempts to measure social phenomenon while qualitative research attempts to describe social phenomenon. |
|
|
Term
| Researchers change whatever it is that they are studying. This drawback is most clearly seen in which of the following qualitative methods? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| Which qualitative method can allow you to witness an event unfolds, but is unable to address other issue or policy domains outside that singular event? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| Which of the following is not one of the properties of protesting that we discussed in lecture? |
|
Definition
| The manner in which information spreads in a protest |
|
|
Term
| What methodology did Robert Putnam use in his study of social capital in the United States? |
|
Definition
| Putnam used aggregate public opinion statistics compiled from a number of different data sources. |
|
|
Term
| Which of the following was not a piece of evidence that Robert Putnam used in making his argument in “Tuning In, Tuning Out: The Strange Disappearance of Social Capital in America”? |
|
Definition
| Survey evidence points to a correlation between low trust in government institutions and the likelihood of voting in presidential elections. |
|
|
Term
| Which of the following is not one of the criticisms that are commonly used against Putnam’s work on social capital? |
|
Definition
| Putnam’s adds too many control variables in his analysis. |
|
|
Term
| Which of the following is one of the consequences of social capital? |
|
Definition
| Social capital leads to social interaction, which helps to stifle conflict, thus leading to increased democratic stability. |
|
|
Term
| True or False. A contextual effect operates when individual behavior depends upon some individually external factor after all individual level determinants have been taken into account. |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| Higher proportions of the working class in Sweden, religious homogeneity in France, and white voters in Alabama best signify which of the following trends? |
|
Definition
| The contextual effects on different types of behaviors. |
|
|
Term
| A donor network is best identified as which of the following statements? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| Which of the following statements best explains the main point of the article “Citizens, Contexts, and Politics” by Robert Huckfeldt and John Sprague? |
|
Definition
| They elaborate on the idea of behavior in context as an explanatory concept, as well as the intellectual roots that gave rise to contextual analysis. |
|
|
Term
| Which of the following best describes the difference between electioneering and public communication? |
|
Definition
| Electioneering explicitly mentions the name of a candidate, while public communication does not. |
|
|
