Chapter 6 Exercises: What Is Public Opinion?
Tier 1: Foundational
These exercises build core conceptual understanding of the theories and frameworks presented in the chapter.
1. Converse's Non-Attitudes — Identification Read the following survey response patterns and classify each as more consistent with a "genuine attitude" or a "non-attitude" in Converse's sense. Justify your classification.
a. A respondent who strongly supports stricter gun laws in 2019, 2020, and 2021 — across three survey waves, with only modest variation in intensity.
b. A respondent who supports "more government involvement in healthcare" in February, says "less government involvement in healthcare" in June, and says "more" again in October of the same year, without any change in their personal healthcare situation.
c. A respondent who agrees with a question about the importance of "reducing the federal budget deficit" but, when asked a follow-up, cannot correctly identify whether the deficit has been rising or falling in the past two years.
2. The Lippmann Argument Walter Lippmann argued in 1922 that citizens navigate a "pseudo-environment" rather than political reality directly. In two to three paragraphs, explain what he meant by this. Then discuss: is Lippmann's critique more or less valid in the age of social media and 24-hour cable news than it was in 1922? What has changed?
3. Mapping the RAS Model Using Zaller's Receive-Accept-Sample model, explain how the same person could hold apparently contradictory positions on immigration — supporting stricter border enforcement AND supporting a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants currently in the country — without being either hypocritical or confused.
4. The Thermostatic Model in Action Identify one example from American political history in the past 20 years where public opinion appeared to shift in a thermostatic response to policy change. Describe: (a) the policy change, (b) the direction of the public response, and (c) what evidence you would look for to confirm this is thermostatic response rather than an independent opinion change.
5. Aggregation Basics A national poll reports that "Americans support stricter gun laws by 58% to 37%." Identify three specific choices the pollsters made that affected what this number means — choices about who counts as "Americans" in this poll.
6. Social Desirability Identification For each of the following survey questions, rate the likely degree of social desirability bias on a scale of Low / Medium / High, and explain your reasoning:
a. "How often do you vote in local elections?" b. "Do you have any negative feelings toward people of other races?" c. "Do you think climate change is a serious problem?" d. "How confident are you in the U.S. military?" e. "Would you vote for a Muslim candidate for Senate?"
7. The Carlos Question Carlos asks Vivian: "If we designed the question differently, would we get a different answer?" Write Vivian's response in your own words — a 150-200 word explanation that captures her nuanced position without using the word "construct."
Tier 2: Analytical
These exercises require applying the chapter's frameworks to analyze real or realistic scenarios.
8. Converse and Contemporary Partisanship Converse found that ideological constraint was rare in mass publics in 1964. Political scientists studying more recent data find that partisan consistency (holding views aligned with one's party across multiple issues) has increased substantially since then. Does this mean Converse was wrong? Or is there a distinction between ideological constraint and partisan consistency that matters here? Develop a 400-500 word argument.
9. RAS Model Application — A Policy Debate In July 2020, support for the Black Lives Matter movement surged, then fell substantially by September. Using the RAS model, explain this pattern. What would Zaller say about: (a) the initial surge, (b) the subsequent decline, and (c) the role of elite cue-givers in driving both movements? What does this pattern tell us about the stability of the underlying attitude?
10. Thermostatic Prediction A progressive administration has just passed a major expansion of federal housing assistance, significantly increasing spending and eligibility. Using the thermostatic model, make a specific, testable prediction about how public opinion on housing assistance spending will change over the next two years. What data would you need to test your prediction? What would falsify the thermostatic model in this case?
11. The Spiral of Silence — Empirical Design You want to test whether the spiral of silence is causing respondents in a conservative rural county to understate their support for same-sex marriage. Design a study that could test for this effect. Be specific about: (a) the measurement approach, (b) what would count as evidence for the spiral of silence, and (c) the key confounds you would need to rule out.
12. Aggregation and the Likely Voter Problem The following two surveys were conducted simultaneously in the same state:
- Survey A (all adults, n=1,200): 54% support Candidate X
- Survey B (likely voters, n=1,200): 47% support Candidate X
The state has an election in six weeks. Write a 300-word memo explaining this discrepancy to a client who is not a survey methodologist. Include: (a) what explains the gap, (b) which number is more useful for what purpose, and (c) what the gap tells us about who participates in this state's elections.
13. The Non-Attitude Test Design a brief experiment (3-5 questions) that could be used to assess whether respondents have "real" attitudes or "non-attitudes" about a specific policy issue of your choice. Explain the logic of your design: what pattern of responses would indicate a genuine attitude, and what pattern would indicate a non-attitude?
Tier 3: Advanced
These exercises require synthesis, critical evaluation, and original analysis.
14. The Existence Question — A Philosophical Essay Write a 600-800 word essay arguing one of the following positions. Use evidence from the chapter and your own reasoning:
Position A: "Public opinion does not exist in any meaningful sense; it is entirely a creation of the measurement instruments used to assess it."
Position B: "Public opinion exists as a social reality that is real in its consequences, even if it cannot be measured with precision."
Position C: "The question 'does public opinion exist?' is the wrong question; we should instead ask what work the concept of public opinion does in democratic politics."
15. Cross-Framework Analysis Compare Converse's non-attitudes framework, Zaller's RAS model, and the thermostatic model on three dimensions: (a) their assumptions about citizen competence, (b) their implications for what polls actually measure, and (c) their implications for democratic theory. Which framework do you find most consistent with contemporary empirical evidence? Defend your answer.
16. The Measurement Problem — Research Design You are a senior analyst at Meridian. Dr. Park has given you the following assignment: "Design a study that tests whether the act of measuring public opinion changes the opinion being measured." Write a 500-word research proposal that: (a) operationalizes the key variables, (b) describes a feasible study design, (c) addresses the main methodological challenges, and (d) explains what you would conclude from various possible results.
17. Policy Implications Some political scientists and philosophers have argued that if Converse is correct — if most citizens don't have stable, constrained ideological belief systems — then direct democracy (referenda, ballot initiatives) is fundamentally flawed, because it asks non-attitudes to do the work of genuine collective judgment. Evaluate this argument. Is it correct? Is it dangerous? What would a defensible response to the non-attitudes problem in democratic design look like?
18. Advanced: The Heresthetics Problem William Riker coined the term "heresthetics" for the art of political manipulation through agenda-setting and framing — changing which considerations are salient without changing the underlying facts. Using the RAS model, explain how heresthetics works psychologically. Then identify a contemporary political controversy where you believe heresthetics is operating. What considerations are being made accessible, and what considerations are being suppressed? Who benefits?
19. Data Exercise: Track Opinion Change Using publicly available data from Gallup, Pew Research Center, or the American National Election Studies, find an opinion series on a domestic policy topic that shows substantial change over a 10-20 year period. Write a 400-500 word analysis that applies at least two of the chapter's theoretical frameworks to explain the trajectory of change. Include: the source of your data, the question wording, the trend you observe, and your theoretical interpretation.
20. Synthesis: The Carlos Memo Carlos has been asked to write a 500-word internal memo for Meridian's client briefing on "What public opinion research can and cannot tell you." Drawing on all the frameworks in this chapter, write that memo. It should be honest about limitations while making the case that well-conducted public opinion research is nonetheless valuable.