Question 1

Scholars of race and gender in American politics have found evidence to support the notion of ______, in which individuals accept "the belief that their own life chances are inextricably tied to the group as a whole."

Accepted Answer

The answer of Scholars of race and gender in American...

Question 2

In the weeks following the Michael Brown shooting, protesters were calling for ______.

Accepted Answer

A)  the release of autopsy results 
B)  the prosecution of the officer who shot Mr. Brown 
C)  the release of Mr. Brown's personal effects 
D)  the release of dash cam video of the encounter

Question 3

Which of the following prevents elected representatives from consistently bending to the will of the voters?

Accepted Answer

A)  Elections are only held every few years. 
B)  There are many roadblocks to making major changes to American public policy. 
C)  Impeachments are hard to pass through a legislative body. 
D)  Amendments to the Constitution require unanimous voting to be passed.

Question 4

What two camps do arguments about the meaning of public opinion fall into?

Accepted Answer

A)  (1) The average citizen either doesn't have or is unable to express meaningful opinion, and (2) even though they may lack sufficient political information, citizens can find ways to work around their lack of information through friends, institutions, and partisanship. 
B)  (1) The average citizen possesses sufficient political information, and (2) political information can be expressed and fluidly changed over time. 
C)  (1) Citizens seek to be educated about political information, and (2) it is the responsibility of a democratic republic to educate and indoctrinate its citizens with political information. 
D)  (1) Citizens lack political knowledge, and (2) the lack of political knowledge creates a barrier to effective government.

Question 5

Which of the following refers to the systematic attempts to make inferences about the opinions of large numbers of individuals by carefully sampling and asking questions to a small, randomly assigned sample of the larger population?

Accepted Answer

A)  public opinion surveys 
B)  straw polls 
C)  self-selected listener opinion polls 
D)  exit polls

Question 6

Survey respondents always respond accurately and honestly based on their beliefs, knowledge, and conscience because the surveys are anonymous.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 7

Many observers could interpret the events of Ferguson, along with the August 5 shooting of John Crawford and the death of Eric Garner in Staten Island, N.Y., as evidence of ______.

Accepted Answer

A)  escalating black-on-black violence 
B)  renewed white-on-black hatred 
C)  systemic police mistreatment of blacks 
D)  continuous black-on-white crimes

Question 8

Lippmann described a public that is ______.

Accepted Answer

A)  highly reflective and averse to efforts that might change their opinions 
B)  intensely interactive and fluidly reactive to change 
C)  moderately reflective and lacking sufficient levels of information to be of value 
D)  dangerously unreflective and vulnerable to attempts to shape our opinions

Question 9

Random-digit dialing carries which of the following possible errors?

Accepted Answer

A)  sampling 
B)  interviewer 
C)  wording 
D)  tabulation

Question 10

American public opinion is difficult to understand because individuals ______.

Accepted Answer

A)  always have hidden preferences 
B)  may not actually have meaningful preferences 
C)  may have unexpressed preferences and attitudes 
D)  may not understand the public opinion process

Question 11

"Children don't enjoy healthy food" is an example of a stereotype.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 12

One of the earliest and most influential advocates of the minimalist argument was ______.

Accepted Answer

A)  Christopher Achen 
B)  Walter Lippmann 
C)  Phillip E. Converse 
D)  Robert Shapiro

Question 13

The main problem with scientific polling is one of ______.

Accepted Answer

A)  administration 
B)  construction 
C)  sampling 
D)  administration.

Question 14

One of the least effective predictors of public opinion is an individual's identification with a political party.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 15

The strength of individual involvement and preference is defined as ______.

Accepted Answer

A)  direction 
B)  intensity 
C)  stability 
D)  salience

Question 16

Which of the following best defines public opinion?

Accepted Answer

A)  the sum of individual attitudes about governmental policies and issues 
B)  a representative sampling of public attitudes and opinions 
C)  the feelings and attitudes of an individual respondent 
D)  the results of a brief political poll conducted by a single candidate

Question 17

The degree to which an individual identifies with and supports a particular political party is known as ______.

Accepted Answer

A)  political socialization 
B)  party identification 
C)  civic education 
D)  political ideology

Question 18

Some political scientists have emphasized the possibility of the ______ in which individuals, imperfectly informed, can come up with meaningful assessments of problems and situations.

Accepted Answer

A)  wisdom of crowds 
B)  social effect 
C)  group learning process 
D)  random sampling effect

Question 19

One tool in which candidates assemble small groups of individuals for a directed conversation in which they hope to uncover patterns of thinking about issues and individuals is the ______.

Accepted Answer

A)  focus group 
B)  political survey 
C)  self-selected opinion poll 
D)  random sampling

Question 20

Which of the following is a problem inherent to straw polls?

Accepted Answer

A)  They are subject to self-selection bias. 
B)  Their target population is not randomly selected. 
C)  Interview bias can impact their outcome. 
D)  Question selection is often difficult.

Exam 5: Public Opinion: How Are Americans Voices Measured, and Do They Matter

Scholars of race and gender in American politics have found evidence to support the notion of ______, in which individuals accept "the belief that their own life chances are inextricably tied to the group as a whole."

In the weeks following the Michael Brown shooting, protesters were calling for ______.

Which of the following prevents elected representatives from consistently bending to the will of the voters?

What two camps do arguments about the meaning of public opinion fall into?

Which of the following refers to the systematic attempts to make inferences about the opinions of large numbers of individuals by carefully sampling and asking questions to a small, randomly assigned sample of the larger population?

Survey respondents always respond accurately and honestly based on their beliefs, knowledge, and conscience because the surveys are anonymous.

Many observers could interpret the events of Ferguson, along with the August 5 shooting of John Crawford and the death of Eric Garner in Staten Island, N.Y., as evidence of ______.

Lippmann described a public that is ______.

Random-digit dialing carries which of the following possible errors?

American public opinion is difficult to understand because individuals ______.

"Children don't enjoy healthy food" is an example of a stereotype.

One of the earliest and most influential advocates of the minimalist argument was ______.

The main problem with scientific polling is one of ______.

One of the least effective predictors of public opinion is an individual's identification with a political party.

The strength of individual involvement and preference is defined as ______.

Which of the following best defines public opinion?

The degree to which an individual identifies with and supports a particular political party is known as ______.

Some political scientists have emphasized the possibility of the ______ in which individuals, imperfectly informed, can come up with meaningful assessments of problems and situations.

One tool in which candidates assemble small groups of individuals for a directed conversation in which they hope to uncover patterns of thinking about issues and individuals is the ______.

Which of the following is a problem inherent to straw polls?