Political Science 362

Public Opinion

 

 

Fall, 2009                                                                                                                         James Przybylski

 

            This course is an introduction to the study of public opinion with some attention being paid to the media's impact on public opinion.  Among other ideas, the course should give the student an increased awareness of the nature of public opinion, how opinion polls are conducted and analyzed, what polls tell us about the political opinions of Americans, how the media may affect public opinion, and the effect of public opinion on public policy

 

            There are two required texts for the course.  They are American Public Opinion, 7th Edition, by Robert Erikson and Kent Tedin; and Understanding Public Opinion, 3rd Edition, by Barbara Norrander and Clyde Wilcox.

 

            There will be one semester examination and a final examination each worth 100 points.  The student will be expected to help construct and conduct a poll of students during the course of the semester.  Helping to develop hypotheses about Truman students' opinions, helping to develop questions to test these hypotheses, helping to collect the sample surveys covering this material, entering this data into the computer for analysis, and attending important classes will be worth 150 points.  The student will also prepare a class presentation outlining the results of his or her part of the survey worth 50 points.  The student will also write a paper of approximately 2500 words analyzing the results of the polling.  This paper analyzing the poll results relevant to the student’s hypotheses will count as another 100 points toward the grade.  In addition, there may also be periodic quizzes or assignments which could total up to 100 points.

 

“The university is committed to making every possible effort to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). If you have a disability for which you are or may be requesting an accommodation, you are encouraged to contact both your instructor and the Disability Services office (x4478) as soon as possible.”

 

This course will follow the normal conventions concerning proscribed student behavior.  If there are any questions, refer to the following site: studentinvolvement.truman.edu/handbook/conduct.asp

Dr. Przybylski's office is MC223; his phone number is 785-4657; his e-mail address is jprz@truman.edu. His website is at www2.truman.edu/jprz/przybyls.html

 

Reading Assignments:

 

I.   Public Opinion: Introduction

 

Sept. 1             Erikson and Tedin, Ch. 1, “Public Opinion in Democratic Societies.”

 

Sept. 3             Clyde Wilcox and Barbara Norrander, “The Diverse Paths to Understanding Public

Opinion” in Norrander and Wilcox, pp. xxi-xxxvii.

Discuss research topic and developing testable hypotheses

 

Sept. 7             Labor Day

 

II.  The Measurement and Interpretation of Public Opinion

 

Sept. 8             Erikson and Tedin, Ch. 2, “Polling: The Scientific Assessment of Public Opinion”

           

Sept. 10           Bring a research topic for the class survey along with 3 to 5 testable hypotheses.  Include 3 or 4 citations to support your hypotheses.   (25 points)

Erikson and Tedin, Ch. 3, “Microlevel Opinion: The Psychology of Opinion Holding” (Begin)

 

Sept. 15           Erikson and Tedin, Ch. 3 (Conclude)

                        Clyde Wilcox and Patrick Carr, “The Puzzling Case of the Abortion Attitudes of the

 Millennial Generation” in Norrander and Wilcox, pp. 123-142.

 

Sept. 17           Erikson and Tedin, Ch. 4, “Macrolevel Opinion: The Flow of Political Sentiment” (Begin)

Bring questions for the survey that operationalize the hypotheses.  (15 points)

 

Sept. 22           Erikson and Tedin, Ch. 4 (Conclude)

                        Adam Berinsky, “Public Opinion and the Iraq War” in Norrander and Wilcox, pp. 59-82.

 

Sept. 24           Bring finalized questions for the survey and complete questionnaire. (15 points)

 

Sept. 29           Begin survey pre-test

 

III.  Political Socialization and Political Attitudes

 

Oct. 1              Erikson and Tedin, Ch. 5, “Political Socialization and Political Learning.”

 

Oct. 6              Return survey pre-test (20 points)

                        Begin work on final sample survey

 

Oct. 8              Work on final sample survey

                        William Jacoby, "Is a Liberal-Conservative Identification an Ideology?" in Norrander and

Wilcox, pp. 145-166.

 

Oct. 13            Begin sample survey

 

Oct. 15            Midterm Break

 

Oct. 20            Review for Exam

                        Discussion of Survey

 

Oct. 22            Semester Exam #1             

 

Oct. 27            Erikson and Tedin, Ch. 6, “Public Opinion and Democratic Stability.”

Discussion of survey

 

 

 

 

IV.  Group Influences and Media Influences on Public Opinion

 

Oct. 29            Erikson and Tedin, Ch. 7, “Group Differences in Political Opinions.”

 

Nov. 3             John Garcia, "Latino Public Opinion" in Norrander and Wilcox, pp. 25-42.

                        Virginia Sapiro and Shauna Shames, "The Gender Basis of Public Opinion" in Norrander

                        and Wilcox, pp. 5-24.

 

Nov. 5             Complete Survey and Create File in Computer (75 points)

 

Nov. 10-12      Erikson and Tedin, Ch. 8, “The News Media and Political Opinions.”

                        Begin preliminary analysis of poll results.

 

 

V.  Public Opinion’s Linkages to Public Policy

 

Nov. 17           Erikson and Tedin, Ch. 9, “Elections as Instruments of Popular Control.”

 

Nov. 19           Erikson and Tedin, Ch. 10, “The Public and Its Elected Leaders

                        Tiffany Harper and Barbara Norrander, “The Rise and Fall of George W. Bush” in

 Norrander and Wilcox, pp. 315-238.

                       

Nov. 23-27      Thanksgiving Break   

 

Dec. 1-8          Presentation and discussion of poll results

 

V.   Conclusions

 

Dec. 10            Paper discussing poll results is due (100 points)

Erikson and Tedin, Ch. 11, “Public Opinion and the Performance of

Democracy.”

 

           

Dec. 14 (Monday)      Final Exam 9:30 - 11:20