Chapter 8

 The attitudes held by a significant number of people on matters of government and politics.

 Parents and siblings have a great impact on a person’s political philosophy. Why?  Education-teachers/professors and fellow students influence political thought, sometimes even more than family.

 Those means of communication that reach large, widely spread audiences at one time.  Newspapers  Magazines  Radio  Internet  TV

 Take out your article that you were assigned to bring in today.  Get into groups of 2-4- each person talk about your article and decide whether or not it is biased.  Staple your article to a piece of paper, on that paper tell me if your group thought it was biased or not…explain your conclusion.

Reaches Everyone 98% of Americans have a TV in their home. Most household TV’s are turned on for an average of 7 hours a day. The Internet is growing in Popularity, but has not passed TV.

 Those you are in contact with on a daily basis greatly influence your opinions on current events.

 Many events in history have changed the way people think about the government.  Recent examples-WWI and WWII, Great Depression, Vietnam, 9/11…

 Private organizations whose members share certain views and work to shape public policy.  The often try to pressure enemies into voting a certain way.  They present their views through lobbyists, letters, phone calls and other methods.

 The best measure of public opinion.  We have used polls throughout history, although early polls were not very scientific.

 Polls that sought to read the public’s mind simply by asking the same question to many different people.  Still used today…  Newspapers (clip out and send it polls)  Talk radio shows asking for callers  Internet “click” polls

 In order to create an effective poll, 5 steps must be taken: 1. Define the Universe (population) to be polled 2. Construct a sample 3. Prepare valid questions 4. Select and control how the poll will be taken 5. Analyze and report their findings to the public

 Most polls are drawn for a random sample (aka probability sample).  If the entire universe can’t be polled, a smaller, randomly selected group of people from the universe is polled.  Ex- Nat’l polls interview 1,500 Americans (out of almost 300 million)

 Wording is very important in polls  Ex- “Should local taxes be reduced?” Answer: Yes  Ex: “Should the city’s police force be increased to fight the rising tide of crime in our community?” Answer: Yes  A good poll will not have LOADED questions like these.

 Good questions are not worded in a way to direct answers a certain way.  Bad Question:  Ex- “You don’t like President Barack Obama do you?”  Better Question:  Ex- “What is your opinion of President Barack Obama’s _____ Policy?”

 Create a poll- you must poll at least 25 people from Franklin (or your community).  You can choose the ages.  Do you want a large age group (rep. all of Franklin), or a small age group (what teenagers think of the government).

 Your poll must have 2 well worded questions about the government (National Level).  Bad example- How much has Obama messed up our country in the past year?  Better Example- Do you agree or disagree with Obama’s healthcare program?  Information that must be gathered from each interviewee.  Age, whether or not they are a Franklin resident and their answers.

 You must write up a conclusion about Franklin residents (or MCHS students) based on your poll information.  Your final product will be in chart or spread sheet form (can be typed or hand written); stapled to your conclusion.  Turn in your question and interview information along with your conclusion.