AP Gov Public Opinion Vocab – Flashcards

definition: the distribution of individual preferences or evaluations of a given issue, candidate, or institution within a specific population.

definition: an opinion poll in which the true objective is to sway voters using loaded or manipulative questions. not reliable as a true indicator of public opinion.

definition: the study of statistics such as births, deaths, income, or the incidence of disease, which illustrate the changing structure of human populations. Can also refer to the composition of a particular human population.

definition: a method of sampling from a population in which subpopulations of a population are sampled independently.

definition: an official count of the population. The Constitution requires the government conduct one every ten years.

definition: an informal survey of opinion done within a small group of people

definition: when there is no group that makes up over half of a population, it is the group that makes up the largest percentile of a population

definition: continuous surveys that allow a campaign to chart its daily rise or fall in support

definition: an overall set of values widely shared within a society

definition: holding to traditional attitudes and values and cautious about change or innovation, typically in relation to politics or religion. One who favors more limited and local government, less government regulation of markets, and more social conformity to traditional norms and values

definition: the process of reallocating seats in the House of Representatives every 10 years on the basis of the results of the census.

definition: open to new behavior or opinions and willing to discard traditional values. One who favors more government regulation of business and support for social welfare but less regulation of private social conduct

definition: the process through which individuals in a society acquire political attitudes, views, and knowledge, based on input from family, schools, the media, and others

definition: One who is conservative on economic issues, liberal on personal conduct issues

definition: the group of people surveyed

definition: a group of people surveyed that was randomly selected

definition: the level of confidence in the findings of a public opinion poll. The more people interviewed, the more confidence we can have in the results

definition: public opinion surveys used by major media pollsters to predict electoral winners with speed and precision

definition: a coherent set of beliefs about politics, public policy, and public purpose, which helps give meaning to political events

definition: differences in political views between men and women