2. Thursday, March 23, 2017
Objective: Students will be able to understand how public opinion is measured and what polls tell us about the views of American voters.
Purpose: Polls are used by politicians to determine what positions and actions they should take when campaigning or in office.

3. Choosing a Nominee This is done through either a caucus or a primary
Caucus: a meeting of like-minded people who discuss and ultimately vote for who they will support in an upcoming election
Primary: an election within a party that is held to pick a party’s nominee for the general election
Primaries and Caucuses are used to nominate candidates for all state and national offices

4. Types of Primaries
Closed Primary: primary in which only a declared party member can vote in
Open Primary: primary in which any registered voter can participate in
Presidential Primaries
voters choose some or all of a State party organization’s delegates to their party’s national convention
express a preference among various contenders for their party’s presidential nomination

5. Voters in Primaries and Caucuses
Turnout is very low
Only the hardcore supporters of each party vote in primaries
We call these people the Base of the party
Moderates tend to perform poorly in primaries
Early success in the polls and the first states is mainly based on name recognition and relationships with voters

7. Party Conventions Goals
Name the party’s presidential and vice-presidential candidates
Bring the various factions and the leading personalities in the party together in one place for a common purpose
Adopt the platform (basic principles, stands on major policy matters, and objectives for the campaign and beyond)
Parties want to promote party unity, capture the interest and attention of the country at large, and generate support for the party’s ticket in the upcoming campaign

8. Public Opinion
Public Opinion: those attitudes held by a significant number of people on matters of government and politics
These views must be expressed by a group of individuals
Best measured through polls
The voice of the people is supposed to express itself through the ballot box, but can change in between elections

9. Public Opinion Polls
Polls: attempts to collect information by asking people questions
Answer choices to issues-based polls will often be “in favor”, “against”, or “not sure/no opinion”
Polls have difficulty measuring the intensity, stability, and relevance of the opinions they report

10. Due to the law of probability, 1,500 randomly selected adults accurately reflect the views of more than 200 million Americans. How is the margin of error related to sample size?

11. An NBC News pollster conducts an election exit poll
An NBC News pollster conducts an election exit poll. Scientific polls are complex, require detailed planning, and can involve in-person or telephone interviews.

12. You can ask several questions to help evaluate a poll's findings
You can ask several questions to help evaluate a poll's findings. Why is it important to read poll results critically?

13. This chart gives an example of the way the wording of a question can affect the results of a poll. In the example shown, how did the language used influence the responses?

15. Political Influences Family Educational experiences
Children, early in their lives, acquire a basic slant toward such things as authority and rules of behavior, property, neighbors, people of other racial or religious backgrounds, and the like
Educational experiences
Social experiences and relations