Jordan Porter Flashcards
Public Opinion
What the public thinks about a particular issue or set of issues at any point in time.
Public Opinion Polls
Interviews or surveys with samples of citizens that are used to estimate the feelings and beliefs of the entire population.
George Gallup
One of the earliest developers of scientific methods for public opinion polling and a proponent for a strong role for the voice of the public in politics and government.
Straw Poll
Unscientific survey used to gauge public opinion on a variety of issues and policies.
Sample
A subset of the whole population selected to be questioned for the purpose of prediction or gauging opinion.
American National Election Studies
Founded in 1952 by researchers at the University of Michigan and Stanford University, ANES collects data on the political attitudes and behavior among voters, such as party affiliation, voting practices, and opinions on parties and candidates.
Push Polls
Polls taken for the purpose of providing information on an opponent that would lead respondents to vote against that candidate.
Population
The entire group of people whose attitudes a researcher wishes to measure
Random Sampling
A method of poll section that gives each person in a group the same chance of being selected.
Stratified Sampling
A variation of random sampling; the population is divided into subgroups and weighed based on demographic characteristics of the national population.
Tracking Polls
Continuous surveys that enable a campaign or news organizations to chart a candidates daily or weekly rise or fall in support.
Exit Polls
Polls conducted as voters leave selected polling places on Election Day.
Margin of Error
A measure of the accuracy of a public opinion poll within statistical parameters
Sampling Error
Errors resulting from the size or the quality of a survey sample.
Political Ideology
The coherent set of values and beliefs about the purpose and scope of government held by groups and individuals.
