8. Mass Media and Public Opinion.

The Formation of Public Opinion.

Measuring Public Opinion.

The Mass Media.

public affairs

public affairspolitics, public issues, and the making of public

policies – those events and issues that concern the people at large

public opinion

public opinionattitudes held by a significant number of people on

matters of government and politics

mass media

mass mediameans of communication that reach large, widely

dispersed audiences (masses of people) simultaneously

peer group

peer groupthe people with whom one regularly associates,

including friends, classmates, neighbors, and co-workers

opinion leader

opinion leaderany person who, for any reason, has an unusually

strong influence on the views of others

mandate

mandateinstructions or commands a constituency gives to

its elected officials

interest groupprivate organizations whose members share certain

views and objectives, and work to shape the making and the content of public policy

public opinion poll

public opinion poll

devices that attempt to collect information by asking people question

straw vote

straw votepolls that sought to read the public’s mind simply

by asking the same question of a larger group

sample

samplea representative slice of the total universe

random sample

random sampleprobability sample; pollster interviews a certain

number of randomly selected people

quota sample

quota sampleconstructed to reflect several of the major

characteristics of a given universe

medium

mediuma means of communication

public agenda

public agendathe societal problems that the nation’s political

leaders and the general public agree need government attention

sound bite

sound bitesnappy reports that can be aired in 30 to 45

seconds or so

The Political Spectrum

Interpreting Political Cartoons.

Government Programs.

Mass Media Use, 2007.

The Great Depression.

The Latino Media Story.

AIDS Memorial Quilt.

Senator Barbara Boxer.

Scientific Polling.

Interpreting Political Cartoons.

Effect of Poll Wording on Reliability.

A Famous Polling Failure.

Interpreting Political Cartoons.

The Gallup Poll.

The “Wireless Web”

Shaping Public Opinion.

Americans with Internet Access.

The Media.

Power of the Press.

Voices on Government.

News or Entertainment.

Analyzing Political Cartoons.