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Page 813
G Page 813
GITELSON
CHAPTER 5*: PUBLIC OPINION AND
POLITICAL PARTICIPATION (F4)
1. Formation of public opinion (G
130-133*)
KEY
IDEA: There is not one public opinion; there are many
“publics” which an individual may
identify with in a day and
through a lifetime (G 133*, see subcultures)
A. Political culture/culture, pp. 361-367 (G 130*, 133*)
B. Socialization/acculturation/agents
of socialization, pp. 367-369 (G 130-133*)
1. Family (most important socialization
agent), p. 367 (G 131*)
2. School (reflects dominant social values),
pp. 367-368 (G 131*)
3. Peer group (face-to-face associates), p. 368
(G 131*)
4. Religion (church, synagogue, mosque,
temple), p. 368 (G 133*)
5. Mass
media (principle source of information, pp. 368-369) (G 131* end-132*)
a. Television: main source of information for most people, pp. 368-9 (G
131* end-132* and 133* end)
b. Newspapers:
source of information for the best informed, people, p. 369 (G 133* end)
II. Measuring public opinion/polling,
pp. 386-389, including sample on 378F and The
Pollsters (G 134-142* center)
A. Target population, lecture
B. Sample/representative
sample (note use of telephone subscriber lists)
1. Random sample
2. Stratified sample
C. Tracking: polling done on
a frequent basis to detect changing opinions,
pp. 387 [last paragraph]-388 [top]
D. Bias, pp. 369,
376-379, 386 [bottom]-387 [top]
1. Personal bias/schematic thinking/refusing to
consider data, p. 369
2. Prominence cues in news placement, pp.
376-379
3. Wording of questions, pp.
386[bottom]-387[top]
E. Margin of
error, lecture and http://www.latimes.com/HOME/NEWS/POLLS
or http://www.gallup.com/index.html / (G 151*) or
http://gallup.com/rating/
III. Media concentration; corporate dominance of
news sources, pp. 374-376 (ch.9, G 238 end-241)
A. Broadcast media (ch.9, G 237 end-238)
1. ABC/Disney
2. CBS/ Westinghouse
3. NBC/General Electric
4. CNN/Time-Warner [Ted Turner] (ch.9,
G 240 center)
5. Fox/News Corporation [Rupert Murdoch]
B. Print media (including endorsement,
p. 377)
1. New
York Times
2. Washington Post
3. Los Angeles Times
C. Non-corporate, public,
“alternative media,” and FAIR
1. Christian
Science Monitor
2.
Public Broadcasting System:
television and radio
3. Pacific Foundation, including KPFK-FM
4...Internet (for example,
http://www.smpcollege.com/smp_govt/ for survey of student attitudes
IV.
Propaganda techniques
A. Positive or negative words, phrases and
expressions to create a desired emotion
B. Bandwagon appeal to activate the fear of being different
C. “Just plain folks”
D. Testimonial and endorsement
E.
Card
stacking
V.
Definitions:
Voter turnout (ch.7,
G 179 center), political efficacy (G 131* top and end),
Vietnam
(G 136* and ch. 6, G 165),
party coalitions/party identification
10/28/01