| A | B |
|---|
| 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 | considered the founder of modern-day polling; believes that polls play a key role in defining issues of concern to the public |
| straw poll | an unscientific survey used to gauge public opinion, to predict popular vote. |
| sample | group selected to be questioned |
| Types of polls | telephone polls, exit polls, tracking polls, internet polls, push polls |
| Exit polls | polls conducted as voters leaved polling place on Election Day |
| tracking polls | Includes questions that go too far; designed to give negative or even untruthful information about a candidate's opponent with the goal to push them AWAY from that candidate and toward the one paying for the poll |
| random sampling | method of selection that gives each person in a group the same chance of being selected |
| stratified sampling | most rigorous sampling technique; the population is divided into subgroups and weighted based on demographic characteristics of the national population o |
| margin of error | a measure of accuracy of an opinion poll |
| political socialization | the process through which individuals acquire their political beliefs and values |
| Influences on our political beliefs | Family, school, peers, the mass media, religion, political leaders |
| mass media | entire array of organizations through which information is collected |
