Test Bank Chapter 14 Public Opinion And The Media In Texas

Chapter 14

Public Opinion and the Media in Texas

1. What core characteristic defines the “public” as described in the text?

a. residence in a particular community or nation

b. knowledge of civic affairs

c. participation in the political process

d. communication in the public sphere

Bloom’s: Knowledge

Difficulty: 1

Section: What is Public Opinion?

Chapter: 14

Texas Standards: Texas LO-5. Evaluate the role of public opinion, interest groups, and political parties in Texas.

2. Which of the five broad definitions of public opinion involves “rhetorical construction”?

a. fiction

b. media/elite opinion

c. aggregation

d. majoritarian

Bloom’s: Knowledge

Difficulty: 1

Section: What is Public Opinion?

Chapter: 14

Texas Standards: Texas LO-5. Evaluate the role of public opinion, interest groups, and political parties in Texas.

3. From what agent of socialization is a person most likely to gain their first understanding of civics?

a. media

b. family

c. religious institution

d. education

Bloom’s: Comprehension

Difficulty: 2

Section: What is Public Opinion?

Chapter: 14

Texas Standards: Texas LO-5. Evaluate the role of public opinion, interest groups, and political parties in Texas.

4. Where did most polling take place prior to the 1920s and 1930s?

a. in homes

b. outside polling stations

c. in public meeting spaces

d. over the telephone

Bloom’s: Knowledge

Difficulty: a

Section: What is Public Opinion?

Chapter: 14

Texas Standards: Texas LO-5. Evaluate the role of public opinion, interest groups, and political parties in Texas.

5. If a sample is determined and a poll conducted for that sample, but many respondents choose not to answer all the questions asked in the poll, this contributes to what type of error?

a. sampling

b. representation

c. total vs actual sample size

d. response rate

Bloom’s: Comprehension

Difficulty: 2

Section: What is Public Opinion?

Chapter: 14

Texas Standards: Texas LO-5. Evaluate the role of public opinion, interest groups, and political parties in Texas.

6. Which of the following types of polls would be considered legitimate but of relatively low scientific rigor?

a. telephone interview

b. opinion survey

c. exit poll

d. push poll

Bloom’s: Comprehension

Difficulty: 2

Section: What is Public Opinion?

Chapter: 14

Texas Standards: Texas LO-5. Evaluate the role of public opinion, interest groups, and political parties in Texas.

7. Which of the following was illustrated by the actions of Public Opinion Strategies against 1996 Texas Attorney General Dan Morales in 1996?

a. Push polls are often used to sway public opinion but have proved ineffective.

b. Push polls were rightly made illegal by the Texas legislature.

c. Push polls can be used to accurately measure public opinion.

d. Push polls can affect public opinion even though they can’t measure it.

Bloom’s: Comprehend

Difficulty: 2

Section: What is Public Opinion?

Chapter: 14

Texas Standards: Texas LO-5. Evaluate the role of public opinion, interest groups, and political parties in Texas.

8. Based on the polling done in Figure 14.3, for which branch of government did Democrats and Republicans show the most similar levels of support in June 2016?

a. “Don’t know”

b. President

c. Congress

d. Supreme Court

Bloom’s: Comprehension

Difficulty: 2

Section: What is Public Opinion?

Chapter: 14

Texas Standards: Texas LO-5. Evaluate the role of public opinion, interest groups, and political parties in Texas.

9. Comparing changes in the public opinion of Texans regarding the legal status of marijuana with the actions of legislators and the judicial system in Texas indicates

a. changes in legislation and specific government policy often lead changes in public opinion.

b. it typically takes leadership by the political elite to move public opinion.

c. the political elite are very slow to respond to changes in public opinion.

d. public opinion can lead the political elite to alter government policy.

Bloom’s: Comprehension

Difficulty: 2

Section: What is Public Opinion?

Chapter: 14

Texas Standards: Texas LO-5. Evaluate the role of public opinion, interest groups, and political parties in Texas.

10. What are the three broad functions that the media serve within their communities?

a. provide information, shape perception, link elected representatives and their constituents

b. provide information, investigate and interpret public policy, and serve as a public forum

c. shape perception, investigate and interpret public policy, link representatives and their constituents

d. link elected representatives and their constituents, provide information, and serve as a public forum

Bloom’s: Knowledge

Difficulty: 1

Section: Media and Its Functions

Chapter: 14

Texas Standards: Texas LO-5. Evaluate the role of public opinion, interest groups, and political parties in Texas.

11. Which of the following news reports would be considered soft news?

a. an announcement about a water main break that affects several neighborhoods

b. a news story about how the mayor of a local town got into politics

c. a reporting on the latest Supreme Court decision

d. analysis of a new jobs report on the American economy

Bloom’s: Comprehension

Difficulty: 1

Section: Media and Its Functions

Chapter: 14

Texas Standards: Texas LO-5. Evaluate the role of public opinion, interest groups, and political parties in Texas.

12. Which of the following processes occurs first when media brings news to an audience?

a. gatekeeping

b. agenda setting

c. priming

d. framing

Bloom’s: Comprehension

Difficulty: 2

Section: Media and Its Functions

Chapter: 14

Texas Standards: Texas LO-5. Evaluate the role of public opinion, interest groups, and political parties in Texas.

13. A local news outlet decides that it is important for the public to be informed about an upcoming vote on property taxes. It replays a short segment about the vote three times a day until voting day arrives. What two processes are represented here?

a. priming and framing

b. resonance and priming

c. agenda setting and framing

d. agenda setting and priming

Bloom’s: Analysis

Difficulty: 3

Section: Media and Its Functions

Chapter: 14

Texas Standards: Texas LO-5. Evaluate the role of public opinion, interest groups, and political parties in Texas.

14. George Lakoff argues that once the media has framed a story for the audience,

a. the issue itself becomes wholly discredited.

b. the audience ceases to apply personal judgements to the issue.

c. counterarguments become less effective in swaying and audience.

d. agenda setting becomes more difficult.

Bloom’s: Knowledge

Difficulty: 1

Section: Media and Its Functions

Chapter: 14

Texas Standards: Texas LO-5. Evaluate the role of public opinion, interest groups, and political parties in Texas.

15. A teenager living near the U.S.-Mexico border has a sense that immigration is a bad thing. After watching several local news reports, he believes this even more strongly. This suggest that the news reports

a. have not been strongly framed.

b. have high resonance.

c. are not newsworthy.

d. have been part of heavy priming.

Bloom’s: Comprehension

Difficulty: 2

Section: Media and Its Functions

Chapter: 14

Texas Standards: Texas LO-5. Evaluate the role of public opinion, interest groups, and political parties in Texas.

16. The traditional view of the media suggests that its primary purpose is to serve as

a. a linkage mechanism.

b. a policy creator.

c. a political influencer.

d. a check on government.

Bloom’s: Comprehension

Difficulty: 2

Section: Media and Its Functions

Chapter: 14

Texas Standards: Texas LO-5. Evaluate the role of public opinion, interest groups, and political parties in Texas.

17. Although the lines are blurring, the “many-to-many” media transmission function is largely the domain of

a. television and radio.

b. print media production.

c. broadcast media transmissions.

d. digital content transmitted online.

Bloom’s: Knowledge

Difficulty: 1

Section: Media Sources: Print, Broadcast, and Online

Chapter: 14

Texas Standards: Texas LO-5. Evaluate the role of public opinion, interest groups, and political parties in Texas.

18. What did the appearance of the Galveston News represent for Texas?

a. the first advocate of urban culture

b. a strong media source for urbanization and industrialization

c. its first newspaper

d. its first daily newspaper

Bloom’s: Knowledge

Difficulty: 1

Section: Media Sources: Print, Broadcast, and Online

Chapter: 14

Texas Standards: Texas LO-5. Evaluate the role of public opinion, interest groups, and political parties in Texas.

19. What represented the first true challenge to the viability of newspapers in the United States?

a. television

b. radio

c. the Internet

d. 24-hour cable news

Bloom’s: Knowledge

Difficulty: 1

Section: Media Sources: Print, Broadcast, and Online

Chapter: 14

Texas Standards: Texas LO-5. Evaluate the role of public opinion, interest groups, and political parties in Texas.

20. Which of the following statements about declining news readership is accurate?

a. About half of twenty-somethings regularly get their news from cable television.

b. Only about 20 percent of baby boomers still get their news from print newspapers.

c. Those who still read newspapers mostly do so in print.

d. Print newspaper readership has been steadily falling for all races except African American.

Bloom’s: Comprehension

Difficulty: 2

Section: Media Sources: Print, Broadcast, and Online

Chapter: 14

Texas Standards: Texas LO-5. Evaluate the role of public opinion, interest groups, and political parties in Texas.

21. How is a story in a news magazine likely to differ from a story covering the same subject in a print newspaper?

a. It would be more sensational.

b. It would provide more in-depth coverage.

c. It would be less accurate.

d. It would be timelier.

Bloom’s: Analysis

Difficulty: 3

Section: Media Sources: Print, Broadcast, and Online

Chapter: 14

Texas Standards: Texas LO-5. Evaluate the role of public opinion, interest groups, and political parties in Texas.

22. By the end of WWII, media consumption in the U.S. was marked by

a. radio was growing as a new medium with steadily increasing penetration into households.

b. peak penetration of radio ownership, but television was beginning to affect radio listener base.

c. radio broadcasts had begun to significantly eat into the print news subscriber base.

d. television had largely replaced radio as the dominant broadcast news medium in the country.

Bloom’s: Comprehension

Difficulty: 2

Section: Media Sources: Print, Broadcast, and Online

Chapter: 14

Texas Standards: Texas LO-5. Evaluate the role of public opinion, interest groups, and political parties in Texas.

23. According to recent research, what medium is the most effective for acquisition of political information?

a. radio news

b. internet newspapers

c. television news

d. print newspapers

Bloom’s: Knowledge

Difficulty: 1

Section: Media Sources: Print, Broadcast, and Online

Chapter: 14

Texas Standards: Texas LO-5. Evaluate the role of public opinion, interest groups, and political parties in Texas.

24. Which of the following statements about television viewing patterns is accurate?

a. Between 2014 and 2015, viewership of most major networks declined.

b. CNN remained the most popular source of television news during 2015.

c. Americans spend about three hours daily consuming news through television.

d. Only about a third of Americans still rely on television for news.

Bloom’s: Comprehension

Difficulty: 2

Section: Media Sources: Print, Broadcast, and Online

Chapter: 14

Texas Standards: Texas LO-5. Evaluate the role of public opinion, interest groups, and political parties in Texas.

25. The danger of the “echo chamber” effect is most prominent in

a. news shared through social media

b. news transmitted through 24-hour cable news

c. news provided by the online versions of print magazines

d. news broadcast through satellite radio

Bloom’s: Comprehension

Difficulty: 2

Section: Media Sources: Print, Broadcast, and Online

Chapter: 14

Texas Standards: Texas LO-5. Evaluate the role of public opinion, interest groups, and political parties in Texas.

26. What is a problem with some of the news shared through YouTube by citizen journalists?

a. YouTube provides no guidelines for the sharing of news or information.

b. Citizen journalists sometimes present dubious information and claim it to be based on facts.

c. Citizen journalists typically ignore events that would not be covered by traditional media.

d. YouTube often censors or delays the news until it no longer relevant.

Bloom’s: Comprehension

Difficulty: 2

Section: Media Sources: Print, Broadcast, and Online

Chapter: 14

Texas Standards: Texas LO-5. Evaluate the role of public opinion, interest groups, and political parties in Texas.

27. In the Carnegie Mellon survey, what did respondents indicate to be the biggest problem with tweets they considered to be useless?

a. illegible

b. irrelevance to important issues

c. offensive nature

d. lack of context

Bloom’s: Knowledge

Difficulty: 1

Section: Media Sources: Print, Broadcast, and Online

Chapter: 14

Texas Standards: Texas LO-5. Evaluate the role of public opinion, interest groups, and political parties in Texas.

28. Which of the following played a major role in the growth of Texas Democratic senator Wendy

Davis’s campaign popularity in 2013, specifically during her filibuster of an abortion-related bill?

a. Facebook advertising

b. YouTube promotion

c. citizen journalism

d. twitter traffic

Bloom’s: Knowledge

Difficulty: 1

Section: Media Sources: Print, Broadcast, and Online

Chapter: 14

Texas Standards: Texas LO-5. Evaluate the role of public opinion, interest groups, and political parties in Texas.

29. What form of media has both challenged and been successfully co-opted by the traditional media?

a. citizen journalism

b. cable television

c. social media

d. streaming networks

Bloom’s: Comprehension

Difficulty: 2

Section: Media Sources: Print, Broadcast, and Online

Chapter: 14

Texas Standards: Texas LO-5. Evaluate the role of public opinion, interest groups, and political parties in Texas.

30. Which of the following would qualify as traditional media?

a. a direct email campaign

b. a billboard sign

c. a campaign video posted on YouTube

d. a public political rally

Bloom’s: Comprehension

Difficulty: 2

Section: The Media in Political Campaigns

Chapter: 14

Texas Standards: Texas LO-5. Evaluate the role of public opinion, interest groups, and political parties in Texas.

31. What does creation of a Facebook page help a political candidate do that she would be less able to do through advertising in the traditional media?

a. save money

b. relinquish control over message

c. reach a bigger audience

d. attack an opponent

Bloom’s: Comprehension

Difficulty: 2

Section: The Media in Political Campaigns

Chapter: 14

Texas Standards: Texas LO-5. Evaluate the role of public opinion, interest groups, and political parties in Texas.

32. Use of the internet by politicians has increased the importance of

a. apathetic voters.

b. fundraising organizations

c. ad-creating media consultants

d. technically-trained media consultants

Bloom’s: Knowledge

Difficulty: 1

Section: The Media in Political Campaigns

Chapter: 14

Texas Standards: Texas LO-5. Evaluate the role of public opinion, interest groups, and political parties in Texas.

33. What positive influence has evidence shown Facebook to have on the political process?

a. the overall increase in informative and factual political knowledge among its users

b. the creation of online communities that increased users' political participation

c. a reduction in negative advertising in favor of “positive” ads

d. an increase in the voter turnout nationwide

Bloom’s: Comprehension

Difficulty: 2

Section: The Media in Political Campaigns

Chapter: 14

Texas Standards: Texas LO-5. Evaluate the role of public opinion, interest groups, and political parties in Texas.

34. Which of the following statements about citizens' levels of trust in the media is accurate?

a. The overall level of trust has decreased in most Western democracies.

b. The overall level of trust in the U.S. has remained relatively stable since its founding.

c. Level of trust in the media is higher for those who identify as Republicans, and has declined for those who identify as Democrats.

d. The overall level of trust has slightly increased in most Western democracies.

Bloom’s: Comprehension

Difficulty: 2

Section: Media Bias

Chapter: 14

Texas Standards: Texas LO-5. Evaluate the role of public opinion, interest groups, and political parties in Texas.

35. What would Maxwell McCombs likely say about most of the articles alleging media bias in traditional media over the last decade?

a. They are mostly accurate as long as they are confined to the traditional media.

b. They themselves are biased in favor of left-leaning media.

c. They lack the proper methodology to truly study the issue.

d. They give too much weight to citizen journalism and social media.

Bloom’s: Comprehension

Difficulty: 2

Section: Media Bias

Chapter: 14

Texas Standards: Texas LO-5. Evaluate the role of public opinion, interest groups, and political parties in Texas.

36. In which of the following ways does selection bias differ from presentation bias?

a. It is a more noticeable form of bias.

b. It may be driven in part by budgetary constraints.

c. It does not reflect partisan ideological positions.

d. It involves greater manipulation of tone.

Bloom’s: Analysis

Difficulty: 3

Section: Media Bias

Chapter: 14

Texas Standards: Texas LO-5. Evaluate the role of public opinion, interest groups, and political parties in Texas.

37. A major 1986 survey of journalists attributed liberal bias in traditional media to what factor?

a. market competition

b. reliance on previous reporting

c. journalistic norms

d. liberal leanings of the journalists themselves

Bloom’s: Knowledge

Difficulty: 1

Section: Media Bias

Chapter: 14

Texas Standards: Texas LO-5. Evaluate the role of public opinion, interest groups, and political parties in Texas.

38. What is an effect of self-selection of media sources by individuals based on their own ideological biases?

a. desegregation of social networks

b. increased media bias through market competition

c. reduction in the power of social media

d. overall decrease in political participation by the citizenry

Bloom’s: Analysis

Difficulty: 3

Section: Media Bias

Chapter: 14

Texas Standards: Texas LO-5. Evaluate the role of public opinion, interest groups, and political parties in Texas.

39. Which of the following media sources is subject to the most regulation by the FCC?

a. network television

b. print newspapers

c. social media advertising

d. cable television

Bloom’s: Comprehension

Difficulty: 2

Section: Regulating the Media

Chapter: 14

Texas Standards: Texas LO-5. Evaluate the role of public opinion, interest groups, and political parties in Texas.

40. There are federal laws that prevent print media from

a. endorsing specific political candidates.

b. giving too much coverage to one candidate in a race.

c. printing false information.

d. selling political advertising at a very high rate.

Bloom’s: Comprehension

Difficulty: 3

Section: Regulating the Media

Chapter: 14

Texas Standards: Texas LO-5. Evaluate the role of public opinion, interest groups, and political parties in Texas.

41. How does traditional media selling of campaign ads (produced directly by campaigns) differ from the selling of political ads by PACs with respect to regulation by the FCC?

a. They reject most PAC ads based on content, but accept most campaign ads.

b. They cannot reject a campaign ad under any circumstances.

c. They can charge more for the campaign ads.

d. They have less control over content of campaign ads.

Bloom’s: Analysis

Difficulty: 3

Section: Regulating the Media

Chapter: 14

Texas Standards: Texas LO-5. Evaluate the role of public opinion, interest groups, and political parties in Texas.

42. A 2010 Supreme Court decision held that corporations and unions have a First Amendment

right to spend unlimited funds on campaign advertisements under what condition?

a. The ads cannot be coordinated with any candidate.

b. The ads cannot advocate for a specific candidate.

c. The ads must be sold at the lowest possible rate.

d. The PACs buying the ad time must not be funded by a corporate entity.

Bloom’s: Comprehension

Difficulty: 2

Section: Regulating the Media

Chapter: 14

Texas Standards: Texas LO-5. Evaluate the role of public opinion, interest groups, and political parties in Texas.

43. Which of the following is a restriction placed on broadcasters by the FCC with respect to political campaigns?

a. They are required to give primetime air time to opposing candidates for the same political office.

b. They must prevent the airing of deliberately false or misleading ads by candidates.

c. They must provide a minimum amount (determined by the FCC) of airtime to each candidate.

d. They cannot censor anything said by a candidate given air time.

Bloom’s: Analysis

Difficulty: 3

Section: Regulating the Media

Chapter: 14

Texas Standards: Texas LO-5. Evaluate the role of public opinion, interest groups, and political parties in Texas.

44. The 2014 ruling by the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit that struck down the FCC’s Open Internet Order had what effect at that time?

a. restricting the amount of money ISPs could leverage toward political causes

b. freeing major social media platforms to take overtly political stances

c. ending protections for unequal time in political advertising by ISPs

d. ending network neutrality requirements for ISPs

Bloom’s: Analysis

Difficulty: 2

Section: Regulating the Media

Chapter: 14

Texas Standards: Texas LO-5. Evaluate the role of public opinion, interest groups, and political parties in Texas.

45. The Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) uses federal funding to

a. help elementary and secondary schools filter internet materials harmful to children.

b. pursue internet users that post or share obscene material involving children.

c. protect children from harmful political influence by preventing political advertisements during children’s programming.

d. protect children from harmful political influence by preventing advertising that involves adult themes from being used on children-themed websites.

Bloom’s: Comprehension

Difficulty: 2

Section: Regulating the Media

Chapter: 14

Texas Standards: Texas LO-5. Evaluate the role of public opinion, interest groups, and political parties in Texas.

46. What gives Facebook the legal grounds to (depending on the actions of the user) put someone in “Facebook Jail?”

a. FCC regulations

b. its TOS

c. federal laws against posting obscene material

d. Facebook policies preventing political advertising

Bloom’s: Knowledge

Difficulty: 1

Section: Regulating the Media

Chapter: 14

Texas Standards: Texas LO-5. Evaluate the role of public opinion, interest groups, and political parties in Texas.

47. The legislation HB 2003 passed by the Texas Legislature, amending the Texas Penal Code, prohibited which of the following?

a. harassment through various online mediums

b. political fundraising for online advertising

c. the release of private consumer information by ISPs to advertisers

d. preferential treatment of some websites by ISPs over others.

Bloom’s: Knowledge

Difficulty: 1

Section: Regulating the Media

Chapter: 14

Texas Standards: Texas LO-5. Evaluate the role of public opinion, interest groups, and political parties in Texas.

48. What has been a broad result of the 1996 Telecommunications Act?

a. lower media costs for consumers

b. greater concentration of media outlets under fewer owners

c. greater involvement of law enforcement in enforcement of social media privacy

d. greater diversity of information reaching a wider audience

Bloom’s: Comprehension

Difficulty: 2

Section: Whose Media?

Chapter: 14

Texas Standards: Texas LO-5. Evaluate the role of public opinion, interest groups, and political parties in Texas.

49. Which of the following is preferred by all age groups?

a. getting news through the internet

b. getting news through network or cable television

c. getting news directly from the reporting source

d. getting news through social media

Bloom’s: Comprehension

Difficulty: 2

Section: Whose Media?

Chapter: 14

Texas Standards: Texas LO-5. Evaluate the role of public opinion, interest groups, and political parties in Texas.

50. What accurate prediction was made in 1969 by Paul Baran about the coming effects of “electrical information?”

a. Cultural segregation would decrease as choice of information increased.

b. Greater choice of information would lead to greater political participation.

c. Greater information availability would lead to increased dialogue.

d. Greater choice of information would lead to political instability.

Bloom’s: Knowledge

Difficulty: 1

Section: Whose Media?

Chapter: 14

Texas Standards: Texas LO-5. Evaluate the role of public opinion, interest groups, and political parties in Texas.

Essay

1. Describe what constitutes the “public” and what is meant by “public opinion.”

2. Explain how the process of conducting opinion polls became more scientific over time.

3. What constitutes the “mass media” and what are the three broad functions it serves in communities?

4. Think of a popular news topic and suggest how a news outlet might affect an audience’s understanding of it through framing and priming.

5. Describe the changes to the nature and popularity of print media as a news source for Americans over the last 100 years.

6. Explain how television changed the way Americans interact with their news and describe the current state of popularity of television as a news source.

7. What is the cultural “echo chamber,” and how has the rise of the internet and social media contributed to this phenomenon?

8. Describe the nature of negative political ads and explain why they are so popular in modern political campaigns.

9. Explain how selection bias and presentation bias can affect the way the media brings a story to the public as well as how the public perceives and issue.

10. Broadly describe the difference between the way the FCC regulates advertising by political campaigns and the way it regulates advertising by political actions committees (PACs).