William_T._Bianco,_David_T._Canon]_American_Polit

Table 6.1 includes data on the variation in opinions across different groups of Americans, as measured in the General Social Sur ...

Where do opinions come from? 207 expertise. For example, if you do not know what to think about immigration reform or gun contro ...

208 Chapter 6Chapter 6 || Public OpinionPublic Opinion Rather, they use only considerations that come to mind immediately.^27 Hi ...

Where do opinions come from? 209 FIGURE 6.2 F i r s t-ter m Presidential Approval Ratings Compared to President Bush’s approval ...

210 Chapter 6Chapter 6 || Public OpinionPublic Opinion How Considerations Interact Considerations can also interact with each ot ...

Measuring public opinion 211 president. The shift in Democrats’ opinions was much smaller because their opinions were driven by ...

How it works: in theory Measuring What a Nation of 330 Million Thinks: A Checklist A Random Sample: Were the people who particip ...

How it works: in theory Measuring What a Nation of 330 Million Thinks: A Checklist A Random Sample: Were the people who particip ...

214 Chapter 6Chapter 6 || Public OpinionPublic Opinion although polls taken early in a presidential campaign (such as a year in ...

Measuring public opinion 215 although polls taken early in a presidential campaign (such as a year in advance of the election) a ...

TA B L E 6.2 The Impact of Question Wording on Opinions How questions are worded can affect survey results. These surveys all as ...

Measuring public opinion 217 make you suspicious that pollsters are trying to skew their findings—rather, they show just how har ...

218 Chapter 6Chapter 6 || Public OpinionPublic Opinion estimates made at the time the program was enacted in 2010. Forty-two per ...

219219 Should Politicians Follow the Polls? Elected officials in America work hard to cast votes and take other actions that the ...

220 Chapter 6Chapter 6 || Public OpinionPublic Opinion The timing of surveys may also affect how useful the results are. Surveys ...

WHAT DO THE FACTS S AY? Are the American People Polarized? Many commentators describe politics in America as highly conflictual, ...

222 Chapter 6Chapter 6 || Public OpinionPublic Opinion important principles, from foreign policy to domestic issues, civil liber ...

What Americans think about politics 223 Figure 6.5 shows that a majority of Americans give positive evaluations of a wide range ...

224 Chapter 6Chapter 6 || Public OpinionPublic Opinion Survey respondents may also be responding to trust questions in ways we d ...

What Americans think about politics 225 who are in favor of a more active government are more likely to be defeated. At present, ...