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Mass Media and Public opinion

Mass Media and Public opinion. PUBLIC OPINION AND POLLS. Public opinion – a complex collection of the opinions of many different persons – a sum total of their views.

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Mass Media and Public opinion

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  1. Mass Media and Public opinion

  2. PUBLIC OPINION AND POLLS • Public opinion – a complex collection of the opinions of many different persons – a sum total of their views. • There are many different publics in the United States – each public is made up of people who hold the view on a particular public issue. Americans belong to many different publics, each with a distinctive view point

  3. Public opinion includes only those views that relate to matters of public concern. • In other words – Public opinion are attitudes held by a significant number of persons concerning governmental and political questions

  4. HOW IS PUBLIC OPINION SHAPED? • Political Socialization – the complex process by which individuals acquire their political attitudes and opinions • The earliest and one of the most significant agents in the political socialization process is the family where children acquire basic attitudes that affect future opinions • Other forms of political socialization are: schools opinion leaders mass media

  5. HOW IS PUBLIC OPINION MEASURED? • elections, interest groups, media and personal contacts and polls • Polls are devices that attempt to collect information to determine public opinion, they determine people’s attitudes and viewpoints

  6. The most reliable measure of public opinion is the scientific poll • define the universe (population) the poll aims to measure • construct a representative sample • prepare valid questions • select and control the polling • report the findings • One argument against polls criticizes the “bandwagon effect,” which is the tendency of some voters to go along with the crowd

  7. MASS MEDIA • Mass media is those means of communication that reach large, widely dispersed audiences simultaneously– television, newspapers, radio and magazines • Mass media, unlike interest groups, do not exist to influence, they seem to affect politics most by focusing people’s attention on certain issues • Television is the most influential source of political information for most people

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