Public Opinion Quarterly 

About: Public Opinion Quarterly is an academic journal published by Oxford University Press. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Public opinion & Politics. It has an ISSN identifier of 0033-362X. Over the lifetime, 3958 publications have been published receiving 216744 citations. The journal is also known as: POQ.

The agenda-setting function of mass media

Abstract: In choosing and displaying news, editors, newsroom staff, and broadcasters play an important part in shaping political reality. Readers learn not only about a given issue, but also how much importance to attach to that issue from the amount of information in a news story and its position. In reflecting what candidates are saying during a campaign, the mass media may well determine the important issues—that is, the media may jet the "agenda" of the campaign. The authors are associate professors of journalism at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

The functional approach to the study of attitudes

Abstract: At the psychological level the reasons for holding or for changing attitudes are found in the functions they perform for the individual, specifically the functions of adjustment, ego defense, value expression, and knowledge. The conditions necessary to arouse or modify an attitude vary according to the motivational basis of the attitude. Ego-defensive attitudes, for example, can be aroused by threats, appeals to hatred and repressed impulses, and authoritarian suggestion, and can be changed by removal of threat, catharsis, and self-insight. Expressive attitudes are aroused by cues associated with the individual's values and by the need to reassert his self-image and can be changed by showing the appropriateness of the new or modified beliefs to the self-concept. Brain washing is primarily directed at the value-expressive function and operates by controlling all environmental supports of old values. Changing attitudes may involve generalization of change to related areas of belief and feeling. Minimal generalization seems to be the rule among adults; for example, in politics voting for an opposition candidate does not have much effect upon party identification. The author is Professor of Psychology at the University of Michigan, former president of the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues, and coeditor of Research Methods in the Behavioral Sciences and Public Opinion and Propaganda.

Nonresponse Rates and Nonresponse Bias in Household Surveys

Abstract: Many surveys of the U.S. household population are experiencing higher refusal rates. Nonresponse can, but need not, induce nonresponse bias in survey estimates. Recent empirical findings illustrate cases when the linkage between nonresponse rates and nonresponse biases is absent. Despite this, professional standards continue to urge high response rates. Statistical expressions of nonresponse bias can be translated into causal models to guide hypotheses about when nonresponse. causes bias. Alternative designs to measure nonresponse bias exist, providing different but incomplete information about the nature of the bias. A synthesis of research studies estimating nonresponse bias shows the bias often present. A logical question at this moment in history is what advantage probability sample surveys have if they suffer from high nonresponse rates. Since postsurvey adjustment for nonresponse requires auxiliary variables, the answer depends on the nature of the design and the quality of the auxiliary variables.

Web surveys: a review of issues and approaches.

Abstract: As we enter the twenty-first century, the Internet is having a profound effect on the survey research industry, as it is on almost every area of human enterprise. The rapid development of surveys on the World Wide Web (WWW) is leading some to argue that soon Internet (and, in particular, Web) surveys will replace traditional methods of survey data collection. Others are urging caution or even voicing skepticism about the future role Web surveys will play. Clearly, we stand at the threshold of a new era for survey research, but how this will play out is not yet clear. Whatever one's views about the likely future for survey research, the current impact of the Web on survey data collection is worthy of serious research attention. Given the rapidly growing interest in Web surveys,' it is important to distinguish among different types of Web surveys. The rubric "Web survey" encompasses a wide variety of methods, with different purposes, populations, target audiences, etc. I present an overview of some of the key types of Web surveys currently being implemented and do so using the language of survey errors. In order to judge the quality of a particular survey (be it Web or any other type), one needs to do so within the context of its stated aims and the claims it makes. By offering a typology of Web survey designs, the intent of this article is to facilitate the task of evaluating and improving Web surveys. Web surveys represent a double-edged sword for the survey industry. On the one hand, the power of Web surveys is that they make survey data collection (as opposed to survey participation) available to the masses. Not only can researchers get access to undreamed of numbers of respondents at dramatically lower costs than traditional methods, but members of the general