Mass Media & Public Opinion

Chapter 8

Public Opinion

The attitudes held by a significant number of people on matters of government and politics.

Factors that Influence Public Opinion

Family and Education

Parents and siblings have a great impact on a person’s political philosophy. Why?

Education-teachers/professors and fellow students influence political thought, sometimes even more than family.

Mass Media

Those means of communication that reach large, widely spread audiences at one time. Newspapers Magazines Radio Internet TV

Is Mass Media Biased?

Take out your article that you were assigned to bring in today.

Get into groups of 2-4- each person talk about your article and decide whether or not it is biased.

Staple your article to a piece of paper, on that paper tell me if your group thought it was biased or not…explain your conclusion.

Reaches Everyone

•98% of Americans have a TV in their home.

•Most household TV’s are turned on for an average of 7 hours a day.

•The Internet is growing in Popularity, but has not passed TV.

Peer Groups

Those you are in contact with on a daily basis greatly influence your opinions on current events.

Historic Events

Many events in history have changed the way people think about the government.

Recent examples-WWI and WWII, Great Depression, Vietnam, 9/11…

Measuring Public Opinion

Interest Groups

Private organizations whose members share certain views and work to shape public policy.

The often try to pressure enemies into voting a certain way.

They present their views through lobbyists, letters, phone calls and other methods.

Polls

The best measure of public opinion.

We have used polls throughout history, although early polls were not very scientific.

Straw Polls

Polls that sought to read the public’s mind simply by asking the same question to many different people.

Still used today… Newspapers (clip out and send it polls) Talk radio shows asking for callers Internet “click” polls

Scientific Polling

In order to create an effective poll, 5 steps must be taken:

1. Define the Universe (population) to be polled

2. Construct a sample3. Prepare valid questions4. Select and control how the poll will be

taken5. Analyze and report their findings to the

public

Constructing a Sample

Most polls are drawn for a random sample (aka probability sample).

If the entire universe can’t be polled, a smaller, randomly selected group of people from the universe is polled. Ex- Nat’l polls interview 1,500

Americans (out of almost 300 million)

Valid Questions Wording is very important in polls

Ex- “Should local taxes be reduced?” Answer: Yes

Ex: “Should the city’s police force be increased to fight the rising tide of crime in our community?”

Answer: Yes A good poll will not have LOADED

questions like these.

Bad Questions

Good questions are not worded in a way to direct answers a certain way.

Bad Question: Ex- “You don’t like President Barack

Obama do you?” Better Question:

Ex- “What is your opinion of President Barack Obama’s _____ Policy?”

Assignment

Create a poll- you must poll at least 25 people from Franklin (or your community).

You can choose the ages. Do you want a large age group (rep. all

of Franklin), or a small age group (what teenagers think of the government).

Your poll must have 2 well worded questions about the government (National Level). Bad example- How much has Obama

messed up our country in the past year? Better Example- Do you agree or

disagree with Obama’s healthcare program?

Information that must be gathered from each interviewee. Age, whether or not they are a Franklin

resident and their answers.

You must write up a conclusion about Franklin residents (or MCHS students) based on your poll information.

Your final product will be in chart or spread sheet form (can be typed or hand written); stapled to your conclusion.

Turn in your question and interview information along with your conclusion.