P SC 1113 Final: P SC 1113 final study guide
Document Summary
It is necessary to monitor and report public opinion, which v. o. Key defined as those opinions held by private persons which governments find it prudent to heed. opinions may be either expressed or unexpressed. There are multiple ways to measure public opinion. Opinion polls are the most commonly thought of method for understanding public opinion. Focus groups in which researchers lead moderated conversations among members of small groups to gather their opinions may be used to design survey questionnaires, to explain polling results, and in political campaigns. Media content analysis involves the careful study of printed materials, such as constituent mail and letters to the editor, to understand the broader policy agenda at a given point in time. Archival content analysis is a historical method in which researchers use data from computer cards, petitions, and diaries to study public opinion from particular years.