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To date, most public opinion surveys on globalization have placed little emphasis on studying globalization as a multidimensional phenomenon. The dominant approach used in most public opinion surveys on globalization is to focus primarily on its economic aspects, particularly as change in international trade flows. However, many academics recognize that globalization has political and cultural dimensions, which raises the question: can citizen attitudes toward globalization be explained merely by studying its economic dimension? <p>This study proposes that including definitions relating to globalizations cultural and political aspects produces richer opinion poll data that, along with economic definitions, allows for more valid interpretation of public attitudes towards globalization. This proposition was tested in a national, SSHRC-funded public opinion survey conducted in January of 2007 among 1,505 Canadians. This study probes both the different dimensions of globalization and peoples different conceptualizations of globalization. Drawing upon recent work by Kenichi Ohmae, Philip Cerny and others, the respondent pool was divided in half and then competing paired definitions of cultural and political globalization were tested. The results suggest that citizens possess significantly different attitudes toward the political, cultural and economic aspects of globalization, and so operationalizing the concept in terms of its economic effects alone is insufficient for most survey and public policy purposes.

To date, most public opinion surveys on globalization have placed little emphasis on studying globalization as a multidimensional phenomenon. The dominant approach used in most public opinion surveys on globalization is to focus primarily on its economic aspects, particularly as change in international trade flows. However, many academics recognize that globalization has political and cultural dimensions, which raises the question: can citizen attitudes toward globalization be explained merely by studying its economic dimension? <p>This study proposes that including definitions relating to globalizations cultural and political aspects produces richer opinion poll data that, along with economic definitions, allows for more valid interpretation of public attitudes towards globalization. This proposition was tested in a national, SSHRC-funded public opinion survey conducted in January of 2007 among 1,505 Canadians. This study probes both the different dimensions of globalization and peoples different conceptualizations of globalization. Drawing upon recent work by Kenichi Ohmae, Philip Cerny and others, the respondent pool was divided in half and then competing paired definitions of cultural and political globalization were tested. The results suggest that citizens possess significantly different attitudes toward the political, cultural and economic aspects of globalization, and so operationalizing the concept in terms of its economic effects alone is insufficient for most survey and public policy purposes.

The recent developments in negotiations to reduce nuclear weapons in Europe mark a watershed in attitudes towards nuclear deterrence and security. On the one side lie all the old beliefs and assumptions about nuclear defence and security that have been common parlance for the last forty years and more. On the other side lies a unique opportunity to develop a new relationship of increased mutual trust between East and West that could ultimately lead to substantial reductions in the world's nuclear arsenal. The object of this thesis is to establish how much information already exists about attitudes towards nuclear deterrence and the processes of attitude change. From there, to extend these boundaries of knowledge in the belief that if we are able to understand more exactly what people think about nuclear deterrence, why they hold these attitudes and how attitudes change then we will be in a better position to ease the transitional stage between one set of attitudes and another.

This thesis addresses the omission in the literature of how political context influences the performance of informational shortcuts. In line with this research gap, the first article suggests that parliamentarian and party-oriented systems encourage the performance of ideology, party identification and leadership, as their use increases the probability to participate in elections, while the effective number of parties has no impact. The second article focus on Spain and two contextual shortcuts - incumbency and electoral polls-. The findings indicate that peripheral voters has the highest propensity to vote for left wing parties when the polls show that the left party is going to win the elections and it is the challenger in salient elections or the incumbent in a nonsalient election. The third article analyses the Spanish case and the impact of leader evaluations and ideology on vote choice over time. The findings manifest that while ideology becomes more important, the utility of leader evaluation is reduced once the informational context becomes more fruitful and stable. / Esta tesis aborda la omisión en la literatura de cómo el contexto político influye en el funcionamiento de los atajos informativos. En línea con esta limitación en la literatura, el primer artículo examina qué instituciones promueven un mejor funcionamiento de la ideología, la identificación partidista y el liderazgo, midiendo los efectos de su uso en la probabilidad de participar en las elecciones. La evidencia muestra como los sistemas parlamentarios y los sistemas orientados a partidos promueven un mejor funcionamiento de los tres atajos, mientras que el número efectivo de partidos no tiene impacto. El segundo artículo se basa en España y dos atajos contextuales –estar en el gobierno y los sondeos electorales- para explorar el saber convencional de que un mayor porcentaje de voto beneficia a los partidos de izquierdas. La evidencia indica que los votantes periféricos tienen la mayor probabilidad de votar a partidos de izquierdas cuando en elecciones relevantes los sondeos muestran que el partido de izquierdas va a ganar las elecciones y está en la oposición o cuando está en el gobierno en elecciones no importantes. El tercer artículo analiza el caso español y el impacto de las evaluaciones de los líderes y la ideología en el voto a través del tiempo. Los resultados manifiestan que, si bien la ideología se vuelve más importante, la utilidad de la evaluación el líder se reduce una vez que el contexto informativo se vuelve más rico y estable.

Thesis (doctoral)--Bochum, 2004. / Copyright 2007 by Kommission für Geschichte des Parlamentarismus und der politischen Parteien e.V., Berlin. Includes bibliographical references (p. [520]-553) and index.

abstract: Meeting state and federal standards is a consistent challenge for schools and their students. Although states were mandated under the No Child Left Behind Act to provide Supplemental Educational Services, such as tutoring, to underperforming schools, the current education policy under the Obama administration does not specifically address the issue of tutoring. Rather, the Recovery Act implemented in 2009, asks states to reform and improve their education systems and schools to increase success and achievement for all students. One method for increasing student achievement and decreasing the gap between groups--thereby meeting the standards mandated by local, state, and federal governments--is tutoring. Obtaining information about and seeking views on tutoring is crucial before it can be applied to school reform. The present study utilized an online poll about tutoring to obtain students' views and to examine meaningful outcomes with regard to demographic variables. Results indicated that the polls' response items had more significant relationships with the variables of age, grade, and school than with those of gender and ethnicity. The response rate for items exhibited the most differences within ethnic groups and age, grade, and school. Each question provided insights to help inform school decision-making and improvement plans; for example, students in younger grades needed more support in spelling and math, whereas adolescents in upper grades reported more difficulty with science and math. Using the results of the present study, schools and districts can tailor and implement changes accordingly; for example, they can develop the best method for a particular demographic group to relay information about tutoring. In this way, strategies can be created and applied for individualized subgroups, thereby maximizing success for all students. The insights gained about tutoring from the ones who have the most at stake--the students--will provide the basis for designing and implementing effective tutoring programs in the schools. Electronic polls are an effective method for gathering student perceptions, providing the foundation for successful school reform and student success, in addition to building a learning community for all stakeholders. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Educational Psychology 2010

We introduce an electoral pollster in a two-candidate costly voting model to study the incentives that pollsters have regarding the release of poll results. In our model, the pollster has private knowledge about the distribution of citizens\' preferences, but it may report false information to the public. If this happens, we say the pollster is misreporting the poll. An often heard criticism about pollsters is that they might manipulate in order to benefit some candidate. We show that they have incentives to misreport even in the absence of ideological motives. Moreover, misreported polls are welfare-improving relative to truthful polls. / Introduz-se um instituto de pesquisa eleitoral em um modelo de voto custoso a fim de estudar quais incentivos os institutos possuem ao divulgarem suas pesquisas. No nosso modelo, o instituto possui informação privada a respeito da distribuição de preferências da sociedade sobre os candidatos, mas pode escolher reportar incorretamente essa informação ao público. Se isso acontece, diremos que o instituto manipulou a pesquisa eleitoral. Uma preocupação comum das pessoas em relação aos institutos de pesquisa é a possibilidade de eles manipularem uma pesquisa eleitoral com o objetivo direto de beneficiar um determinado candidato. Nós mostramos que eles possuem incentivos para manipular a pesquisa mesmo na ausência de motivações partidárias. Ainda, essa manipulação aumenta o bem-estar da sociedade, em comparação com pesquisas verdadeiras.

Based on the examination of the relevant literature and findings from academic survey research, this Master's thesis focuses on the reflection of the political development in public opinion research in China and on the contour of local collective opinion. Its theoretical part stems from James Bryce's theory of the development of public opinion and from the writings of Irving Crespi who noted that the extent and role of public opinion research in different political regimes rely on the acceptance of public opinion in the political process and on the basis of governmental legitimacy. The increasing pluralization of public opinion, which is the result of the processes tied to Chinese economic liberalization and which has been reflected in the official ideology and in the growing emphasis on public opinion polling claimed by the government, is still outweighed by the inclination of the Chinese Confucian society towards authoritarian leadership. The liberalization process is further reflected in the extent of public opinion research; however, recent studies show that the results from public opinion polls are not reported objectively and survey responses of Chinese respondents are strongly influenced by the political regime. KEYWORDS China, public opinion, polls, legitimacy, James Bryce, Irving Crespi

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