POL SCI 1 Lecture 20: Lecture 20—Public Opinion
Document Summary
Literary digest poll, 1936: literary digest sent out mailers to 10,000,000 individuals and received responses from 2. 4 million, poll results (and actual), alf landon 57 (37, franklin roosevelt 43 (61) Scientific polling: random sampling (as opposed to convenience sample , each member of population has equal chance of being part of the sample, technological (fewer landlines) and cultural change (less likely to answer) have made this more difficult. Can we trust respondents: social desirability effect, bradley effect (trump effect?, question wording as key, e. g. racial attitudes: don"t ask are you a racist? . Measurement challenge: small differences in question-wording can have big impact: do you think abortion should be legal in all cases, legal in most cases, illegal in most cases, or illegal in all cases? (wash. post, Supreme court decision that established a woman"s right to an abortion? (quinnipiac, july 2008: agree: 63, disagree: 33, unsure: 5%
