142 PART TwO • THE POlITICS OF AMERICAn dEMOCRACy
testyourself
LO1 Define public opinion, consensus opinion,
and divided opinion, and discuss major sources of
political socialization, including the family, schools,
the media, and political events.
We can best define public opinion as:
a. beliefs held by moderate voters.
b. beliefs shared by both Democrats and
Republicans.
c. the aggregate of individual beliefs shared by
some portion of adults.LO2 Identify the effects of various influences
on voting behavior, including education, income,
religion, race/ethnicity, gender, and geography.
The gender gap refers to:
a. the difference in college attendance rates for
males and females.
b. the tendency for women to be more likely to
vote for a particular candidate than men.
c. the tendency for men to dominate the
political process.LO3 Describe the characteristics of a scientific
opinion poll, and list some of the problems pollsters
face in obtaining accurate results.
One way to compensate for underrepresented
groups in a polling sample is to:
a. eliminate all answers from those who are
part of the underrepresented group.
b. reduce the weight given to the
underrepresented group so that it does not
count excessively.
c. add extra weight to correct for the
underrepresented group.LO4 Consider the effect that public opinion may
have on the political process.
The trend in political satisfaction in this
country has:a. always been very high.
b. fallen since around 2001.
c. risen since around 2001.LO5 Describe the different types of media and the
changing roles that they play in American society.
Television remains a key medium in American
politics because:
a. it is the number-one source of information
for older voters, who dominate the
electorate.
b. young people are avoiding the Internet as a
source of information.
c. television advertisements are not that
expensive to buy.LO6 Summarize the impact of the media on
political campaigns, and consider the issue of
political bias in the media.
Critics of the mainstream media have often
accused it of exhibiting which of the following
forms of bias:
a. bias against conservatives, bias against
losers, and bias in favor of conflict and
drama.
b. bias against Democrats, bias in favor of
religion, and bias in favor of whoever is
president.
c. bias against science, bias against
entertainment figures, and bias in favor of
minority group members.Essay Question:
Years ago, people with postgraduate degrees were
more likely to vote for Republican than Democratic
candidates, but in recent years, highly educated
voters have been trending Democratic. Why might
physicians and lawyers be more likely to vote
Democratic than in the past? For what reasons
might college professors lean Democratic?Access CourseMate at http://www.cengagebrain.com for additional study tools: practice quizzes,
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learning modules, interactive timelines, videos, and American Government NewsWatch.Answers to multiple-choice questions: 1. c, 2. b, 3. c, 4. b, 5. a, 6. a.Copyright 2014 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
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