The study of public opinion has become increasingly central to our understanding of American politics. What the American public believes, why it holds those beliefs, and whether or not those beliefs matter have become essential questions that guide our understanding of how American democracy functions. In order to answer these questions, however, it is important to consider the tools we use to measure public opinion accurately and reliably and to understand the substantive applications and limitations of those tools. This dissertation is composed of three essays that consider important questions in public opinion measurement today. The first considers how the technique of multilevel regression with poststratification (MRP) performs on polling data collected using area-based cluster sampling techniques. While MRP has been a boon to researchers with limited resources, it must still be examined to understand its strengths and shortcomings. The second paper uses two datasets to look at the measurement of scales of political values over time, focusing on both individual and state-level measures, and discusses implications of these results for larger debates around the measurement of partisan sorting and polarization. The third paper turns to the question of social desirability bias in polling. Specifically, it uses list experiments to look at whether survey respondents answer truthfully when asked about support for same-sex rights. These papers all aim to shed light on recent innovations in the measurement of public opinion and illustrate how we can use these innovations to improve our understanding of American public opinion.

Issues of right to life, as well as death have surfaced as topics of hot debate. In particular, questions about when and if individuals have the right to end their own lives have emerged and gained considerable attention as health policy issues having the potential to affect all Americans.. The purpose of this study was to identify the factors that are most likely to influence an individual's decision to support or not support voluntary active euthanasia (VAE) and physician assisted suicide (PAS) in specific medical situations. This study also examined the differences in medical vignettes by various demographic and attitudinal factors. Data were collected from a sample of classified staff members at two institutions of higher learning in Oregon. A survey was used to collect all data. Paired sample T-tests, stepwise multiple regression analysis and repeated measures multiple analysis of variance (MANOVA) were used to analyze the data. Based on survey results, there were significant differences in attitudes toward PAS and VAE for each medical vignette. Religious beliefs, fear of dependency, and fear of death were the most powerful predictors of individual support for PAS in each medical situation. In the case of VAE, there were differences in support on each medical situation in terms of the most powerful predictors: fear of dependency and religious beliefs for the cancer vignette, fear of dependency, religious beliefs, and age for the ALS vignette, and religious beliefs and fear of dependency for the paralysis vignette. The repeated measures MANOVA revealed that in general, the older the individual was, the less likely they were to support PAS or VAE. However, women over age 66 in this study were more likely to support VAE than were the males age 66 and over. Males in the 51-65 year old category were more supportive of VAE than females in this age category. Also, those who were more fearful of death were more likely to have a higher level of support for VAE. In all three vignettes (Cancer, Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and paralysis) for both PAS and VAE, there was a significantly different level of support measured on a seven point Likert scale. / Graduation date: 1995

No description available.

The relationship between blame attribution, characterological and behavioral blame, and rape and prostitution myth acceptance was investigated. After reviewing an incident report of a sexual assault in which the victim was portrayed as either a prostitute, bank teller, or nun, 291 college-aged participants rated their level of agreement with rape myths and prostitution myths. They also assigned blame to the victim and/or perpetrator of the sexual assault. Results indicated that as rape and prostitution myth acceptance increased, victim blame increased and perpetrator blame decreased. Participants tended to blame the victimized prostitute more for the assault than the victimized bank teller and nun; similarly, participants tended to blame the perpetrator of the nun and bank teller more than the perpetrator of the prostitute. Gender differences in rape and prostitution myth acceptance and blaming attributions were also investigated. The findings are congruent with previous research on rape myth acceptance and blame. / Department of Psychological Science

No description available.

University of Macau / Faculty of Social Sciences. / Department of Sociology

杜榮佳. / 手稿本, 複本據手稿本複印. / Thesis (M.A.)--香港中文大學. / Shou gao ben, fu ben ju shou gao ben fu yin. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 368-418). / Du Rongjia. / Thesis (M.A.)--Xianggang Zhong wen da xue. / 提要 / 自序 --- p.1-4 / 引論 --- p.5-15 / Chapter 第一章 --- 光緒初年清議的興起 --- p.16-10 / Chapter 第一節 --- 先緒年間以前的清議 --- p.16-35 / Chapter 1 --- 晚明清議的興起 / Chapter 2 --- 清初清議的衰微 / Chapter 3 --- 道咸同三朝清議的復興 / Chapter 第二節 --- 光緒初年清議整頓內政的條陳 --- p.35-48 / Chapter 1 --- 整飭地方吏治 / Chapter 2 --- 彈劾奄官大僚 / Chapter 3 --- 條陳救荒建議 / Chapter 4 --- 反對立儲繼嗣 / Chapter 第三節 --- 光緒初年清議對外交與自強的獻計 --- p.48-58 / Chapter 1 --- 推翻崇約 / Chapter 2 --- 議約禦俄 / Chapter 3 --- 善用人才 / Chapter 4 --- 軍事自強 / Chapter 第四節 --- 清廷對清議的態度 --- p.58-69 / Chapter 1 --- 清廷對清議的支持 / Chapter 2 --- 清廷對清議的駁斥 / Chapter 第二章 --- 中法越南戰爭期間的清議 --- p.101-148 / Chapter 第一節 --- 清議主戰的言論及思想 --- p.101-112 / Chapter 1 --- 清議對法人的認識 / Chapter 2 --- 清議對藩屬的看法 / Chapter 3 --- 清議主戰的意見 / Chapter 4 --- 清議評彈官員的意見 / Chapter 第二節 --- 清議對外認識的變化 --- p.112-119 / Chapter 1 --- 清議籌防的意見 / Chapter 2 --- 清議對餉械不足的認識 / Chapter 第三節 --- 清廷對清議的反應 --- p.119-130 / Chapter 1 --- 清廷觀望的態度 / Chapter 2 --- 清廷對清議主戰的支持 / Chapter 3 --- 清廷對議和的重視 / Chapter 4 --- 清廷始戰終和的局面 / Chapter 第四節 --- 小結 --- p.130-131 / Chapter 第三章 --- 甲午戰爭期間的清議 --- p.149-195 / Chapter 第一節 --- 清議主戰的言論及思想 --- p.152-160 / Chapter 1 --- 清議主戰的原因 / Chapter 2 --- 清議備戰籌防的意見 / Chapter 3 --- 清議振興中樞權力的主張 / Chapter 4 --- 清議評彈將帥的意見 / Chapter 第二節 --- 清議反對和議的見解 --- p.160-165 / Chapter 1 --- 以戰為和 / Chapter 2 --- 反對割地賠款 / Chapter 3 --- 請求罷黜和議 / Chapter 第三節 --- 清廷對清議的反應 --- p.165-174 / Chapter 1 --- 對倡言主戰的反應 / Chapter 2 --- 對評彈樞臣的反應 / Chapter 3 --- 對調兵遣將言論的反應 / Chapter 4 --- 對議和問題的看法 / Chapter 第四節 --- 小結 --- p.174-176 / Chapter 第四章 --- 光緒年間清議的性質 --- p.196-274 / Chapter 第一節 --- 前清流(清流黨)的社會綱絡 --- p.197-210 / Chapter 1 --- 前清流(清流黨)的社會關係 / Chapter 2 --- 李鴻藻與「清流黨」關係的探討 / Chapter 第二節 --- 前清流活動性質的檢討 --- p.211-233 / Chapter 1 --- 前清流人物活動情況 / Chapter 2 --- 清流名士的生活好尚 / Chapter 3 --- 清流本身無意結黨 / Chapter 第三節 --- 後清流(帝黨)的社會綱絡 --- p.23-237 / Chapter 1 --- 帝黨稱謂與介定的質疑 / Chapter 2 --- 翁同龢與帝黨的關係 / Chapter 3 --- 後清流的社會關係 / Chapter 第四節 --- 後清流活動性質的探討 --- p.237-244 / Chapter 1 --- 清流名士的生活好尚 / Chapter 2 --- 後清流論政目的與「帝黨」的關係 / Chapter 第五章 --- 清議在晚清宮廷政治上的意義 / Chapter 第一節 --- 「慈禧政爭工具說」的檢討 / Chapter 1 --- 慈禧研究的缺點 / Chapter 2 --- 清議與慈禧發動政爭的質疑 / Chapter 第二節 --- 「反對運動(Qpposition Movement)說」的質疑 --- p.288-295 / Chapter 1 --- 清議與變法及反對運動的關係 / Chapter 2 --- 清議與打擊非正途出身官員的關係 / Chapter 第三節 --- 清議與晚清中央決策的權力危機 --- p.296-320 / Chapter 1 --- 中法戰爭期間外交決策權力危機的分析 / Chapter 2 --- 中日戰爭期間外交決策權力危機的分析 / Chapter 3 --- 清議與晚清皇權危機 / 結論 --- p.351-367 / 主要參考書目

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2007. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Georgia State University, 2005. / Title from title screen. Michael Binford, committee chair; Alison Calhoun-Brown, Stephen Nicholson, committee members. Electronic text (120 p.) : digital, PDF file. Description based on contents viewed Apr. 24, 2007. Includes bibliographical references (p. 107-109).

In this dissertation, I examine the determinants of presidential responsiveness to public opinion, employing a theory of context and venue that explains why presidents are more responsive at some times and in certain policy making venues than at other times and in other venues. To test this theory, I create a new direct measure of presidential responsiveness to public opinion, a measure that quantifies the ideological distance between presidential policy positions and public policy preferences. I develop versions of this measure in four important venues of the modern presidency: relations with the U.S. Congress and the U.S. Supreme Court, the unilateral administrative presidency, and the president’s rhetoric. Using time-series regression techniques, I analyze the influence that factors such as political context, electoral context, institutional context, and venue visibility have on the dynamics of presidential responsiveness scores. The results indicate that although the president’s policy position taking responds to public opinion dynamics, there is no clear contextual factor that conditions this responsiveness.