| Term | Definition |
|---|
| Public opinion | attitudes about political issues, leaders, institutions and events. |
| Values (or beliefs) | basic principles that shape a person's opinions about political issues and events. |
| Political ideology | a cohesive set of beliefs that forms a general philosophy about the role of government. |
| Political socialization | the induction of individuals into the political culture; learning the underlying beliefs and values upon which the political system is based. |
| Liberal | today this term refers to those who generally support social and political reform; extensive governmental intervention in the economy; the expansion of federal social services; more vigorous efforts on behalf of the poor, minorities and women; and greater concern for consumers and the environment. |
| Conservative | today this term refers to those who generally support the social and economic status quo and are suspicious of efforts to introduce new political formulae and economic arrangements. Conservatives believe that a large and powerful government poses a threat to citizens' freedom. |
| Public opinion polls | scientific instruments for measuring public opinion. Sample a small group selected by researchers to represent the most important characteristics of an entire population. |
| random sampling | a method used by pollsters to select a representative sample in which every individual in the population has an equal probability of being selected as a respondent. |
| Selection bias | polling error arises when the sample is not representative of the population being studied which create errors in overrepresenting or underrepresenting some opinions. |
| Sampling error | how far off the poll results may be; represented as + and - |
| Push polling | a polling technique in which the questions are designed to shape the respondent's opinion. |
| intensity | the degree of strong feelings about a particular issue. |
| saliency | the impression conveyed by polls as to the degree of importance to a particular group or individual. |
| Bandwagon effect | a shift in electoral support to the candidate that public opinion polls report as the front-runner. |
| straw poll | an unscientific poll that represents only a narrow subgroup of people and inevitably produces a bias sample |
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