American Politics Today - Essentials (3rd Ed)

134 CHAPTER 5|PUBLIC OPINION AND THE MEDIA

Measuring Public Opinion

For the most part, information about public opinion comes from mass

surveys—that is, face-to-face or telephone interviews with hundreds or thou-

sands of voters. A mass survey seeks to measure the attitudes of a particular

DESCRIBE BASIC SURVEY

METHODS AND

POTENTIAL ISSUES

AFFECTING ACCURACY

THE IMPORTANCE OF GROUPS

TABLE »^ 5.1

“THE BIBLE IS THE

ACTUAL WORD OF GOD

AND IS TO BE TAKEN

LITERALLY, WORD FOR

WORD.” (PERCENTAGE

WHO AGREE)

“MEN ARE

BETTER SUITED

[THAN WOMEN]

FOR POLITICS.”

(PERCENTAGE

WHO AGREE)

“GOVERNMENT SHOULD

REDUCE THE INCOME

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN

THE RICH AND THE

POOR.” (PERCENTAGE WHO

STRONGLY AGREE)

Gender Male 28% 32% 17%

Female 39 31 22

Age 18–30 31% 27% 18%
31–40 35 26 18
41–55 34 39 19
Over 55 36 42 21

Education High school 38% 30% 18%

Bachelor’s degree 17 23 9

Advanced degree 11 17 11

Race White 30% 31% 16%

African American 56 31 33

Other 36 31 26

Family income Less than $15,000 43% 35% 39%

$15,000–$20,000 37 33 24

$20,000–$25,000 31 29 49

More than $25,000 17 25 18

Region New England 17% 23% 16%

Middle Atlantic 31 29 21

Midwest 32 31 20

South 52 43 19

Mountain 29 25 15

Pacifi c232717

Source: Data from 2010 General Social Survey, http://sda.berkeley.edu/archive.htm (accessed 9/15/12).

TABLE »^ 5.1