How Global Citizenries Think about Democracy: An Evaluation and Synthesis of Recent Public Opinion Research

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 222-249 ◽  
Author(s):  
DOH CHULL SHIN ◽  
HANNAH JUNE KIM
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Empirical Research ◽  
Berlin Wall ◽  
Public Opinion Research ◽  
Research Institutes ◽  
Public Opinion Surveys ◽  
Ordinary Citizens

AbstractSince the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989, individual scholars and research institutes have conducted numerous public opinion surveys to monitor how global citizenries react to the process of democratization taking place in their own countries and elsewhere. This article reviews the various issues surrounding the divergent conceptions of democracy among political scientists and ordinary citizens, and synthesizes significant findings of the conceptual and empirical research based on these surveys. It also raises a set of new questions that future surveys should address to broaden and deepen our knowledge about citizen conceptions of democracy.

Public Opinion Research in Government

1949 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 564-572 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harold F. Gosnell ◽  
Moyca C. David
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Census Data ◽  
Social Scientist ◽  
Census Bureau ◽  
Public Opinion Research ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Opinion Surveys ◽  
Actual Use ◽  
The Government ◽  
Radio Programs

The actual use of polling techniques by the federal government falls far short of what one eminent social scientist, Julian L. Woodward, foresees for the future. He says: “Sooner or later, the government itself will have to go into the polling field and provide both its administrators and its legislators with adequate and sound information on what the public thinks. Eventually this sort of information will become as necessary as census data and will be provided by an agency with a reputation for unbiased research equal to that now enjoyed by the present Census Bureau.”While the potentialities of public opinion research in the government have only begun to be exploited, administrators and even legislators, who characteristically have been more hostile toward polling, have found methods of testing public opinion answerable to their needs. In accord with their purposes, they have used public opinion surveys to sample a small group of leaders, a large group, or the total population. They have been concerned also with content analysis of the press and of radio programs. The usefulness of attitude surveys was established particularly during the war and has continued since in a somewhat lesser degree.

scholarly journals Interviewer Effect on the Survey Data in Lithuania: Analysis of Three Surveys

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ainė Ramonaitė
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Survey Data ◽  
Comparative Studies ◽  
Political Attitudes ◽  
Multilevel Modelling ◽  
Public Opinion Research ◽  
Public Opinion Surveys ◽  
Interviewer Effect ◽  
International Comparative

The article analyses the interviewer effect on the data of three public opinion surveys on political attitudes of the population conducted in Lithuania. The study discusses why in international comparative studies Lithuania stands out for its extremely high interviewer effect, which raises serious doubts about the reliability and suitability of the data for analysis. The article, first, reviews the reasons for the interviewer effect and the methods of its measurement and, second, presents the results of multilevel modelling. The analysis of surveys conducted by three different public opinion research agencies reveals that the interviewer effect varies significantly depending on the research agency. The hypotheses on the differences in the interviewer effect related to the nature of the questions were not confirmed, but it was found that the interviewer effect was greater on more abstract and complex questions. In the conclusions, the recommendations for researchers working with surveys on how to control the interviewer effect are provided.

Graphical Displays for Public Opinion Research

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saundra K. Schneider ◽  
William G. Jacoby
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Survey Research ◽  
Empirical Research ◽  
Quantitative Information ◽  
Journal Articles ◽  
Public Opinion Research ◽  
Graphical Displays ◽  
Specific Advice ◽  
Effective Manner ◽  
Effective Use

This chapter takes steps toward promoting the effective use of graphical displays in journal articles and research monographs on public opinion and survey research. It provides specific advice and guidelines about determining when a graph would be useful for communicating quantitative information; features to consider in selecting a graph for displaying data or analytic results; and characteristics and details associated with specific types of graphs that help to maximize the information they convey to their audience. The overall objective is to encourage survey researchers and public opinion scholars to use graphs in an effective manner, making them useful tools for conveying information about the data and analyses that comprise the central components of empirical research efforts.

scholarly journals Discovering the Secret Listener: Western Radio Broadcasts to Soviet Lithuania

2019 ◽  
Vol 43 ◽  
pp. 91-110
Author(s):  
Inga Arlauskaitė Zakšauskienė
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Behavioral Patterns ◽  
Independent Research ◽  
Potential Influence ◽  
Public Opinion Research ◽  
Amount Of Information ◽  
Research Department ◽  
Research Institutes ◽  
The Soviet Union

The research of Western radio audiences in the Soviet Union was carried out by the department of Soviet Area Audience and Opinion Research, which was in charge of the RFE/RL; however, factual surveys were conducted by independent research institutes, which ensured that the results were neutral and no prejudices with regard to a particular broadcaster were present. The key indices to be measured were the size of the audience that listened to Western radio broadcasts as well as the listeners’ behavioral patterns. Making use of these parameters, the authorities of these radios were able to modify the character of radio programming, to design the content of the information provided, and to observe the potential influence of radio broadcasts in the context of ideological opposition. It is important to stress that based on the methodology and the amount of information available at that time, individual persons’ surveys conducted by Radio Liberty audience and the opinion research department were not adequate to what is considered, in the contemporary sense, proper public opinion research.

Communication

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian D. Liddy
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Political Power ◽  
Political Process ◽  
The Political ◽  
Late Medieval ◽  
And Control ◽  
Ordinary Citizens

The exercise of political power in late medieval English towns was predicated upon the representation, management, and control of public opinion. This chapter explains why public opinion mattered so much to town rulers; how they worked to shape opinion through communication; and the results. Official communication was instrumental in the politicization of urban citizens. The practices of official secrecy and public proclamation were not inherently contradictory, but conflict flowed from the political process. The secrecy surrounding the practices of civic government provoked ordinary citizens to demand more accountability from town rulers, while citizens, who were accustomed to hear news and information circulated by civic magistrates, were able to use what they knew to challenge authority.

Has Anyone Seen It?

2012 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 189-212 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dagmar Radin ◽  
Aleksandar Džakula
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Public Opinion ◽  
Parliamentary Elections ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Sentiment ◽  
Public Opinion Surveys ◽  
Health Care Performance ◽  
Policy Arena ◽  
Care Performance

Over the past decade, public opinion surveys have shown that Croats are deeply dissatisfied with their health care system and asses it to be one of the most important issues. However, health care hardly makes it into any political discourse in Croatia. This study analyzes the results of a public opinion survey conducted before the 2007 parliamentary elections to find out what the public sentiment on health care performance in Croatia is and to analyze the reasons why health care is not addressed by political actors. Evidence suggests that while health care is the most salient issue today, the public often understands it poorly. Thus, in a political environment of competing issues, and given the complexity of tacking health care in the policy arena, politicians strategically avoid discussing the issue.

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