Congenial public, contrary press, and biased estimates of the climate of opinion

This field experiment focused on perceived public opinion about the use of primates in laboratory research. We used this contentious issue to examine the simultaneous effects of three hypothetical ideas-the hostile media perception, the persuasive press inference, and the projection bias-on partisan perceptions of public opinion. Our data supported the projection hypothesis but also confirmed that partisans on each side of the issue judged news articles to be biased in a disagreeable direction relative to judgments of those on the other side. The perception of relatively disagreeable media bias, in turn, influenced perceptions of public opinion. Results supported the hypothesis that people make inferences about the climate of opinion based on their reading of the news, especially the perceived slant of that news.     

Some Things That Concern Me

To improve the craft of opinion research the author makes theserecommendations: (1) emphasize the "art" side of opinion research,(2) avoid establishing strict standards of performance, (3)push for more disclosure than the present code calls for, and(4) substitute question wording for sampling error statementin public release of poll results.     

Propaganda or public relations campaign? International communication on the war against Iraq

Cross-cultural survey on the war against Iraq from different cultures may help to assess whether the public relations war has succeeded or failed. Overall the public of the U.S. and the U.K. formed similar evaluations of the war; whereas South Korean opinion was lay on the opposite side of the continuum. The present study suggests that public relations campaigns administered by the U.S. government did not generate favorable opinions in countries other than the U.S.     

Silent minority? Willingness to express opinions of motivated public depending on the perceived group size in the context of GM food controversy

Using 2010 dataset from Investigation of Consumers’ Risk Perception on Novel Foods on the issue of genetically modified (GM) foods in South Korea, the study explores the roles of situational motivation and perceived opinion climate on willingness to express an opinion in the context of the spiral of silence and group size effect hypothesis. The study analyzed the data using PROCESS moderation model. Findings provided that individuals are more willing to express their opinion when they have stronger situational motivation. However, this effect was moderated by perceived opinion climate such that those who perceive a less favorable opinion climate to their position are more willing to express their opinion than those who perceive a more favorable opinion climate as they have stronger situational motivation. Implications of the findings are discussed in detail.     

Sex scandals: A cross-cultural analysis of image repair strategies in the cases of Bill Clinton and Silvio Berlusconi

The former President of the United States, Bill Clinton, and the current Prime Minister of Italy, Silvio Berlusconi, do not have many things in common save one: both have been involved in highly publicized sex-related scandals during their respective mandates. And yet in both cases, from the beginning, each safeguarded his position and managed to keep a significant percentage of the public opinion on his side. This paper argues that although the image restoration strategies of Berlusconi and Clinton were substantially different in content and form, they were both appropiate in their cultural contexts. A cross-cultural examination of the cultural dynamics of these two distinct nations shows that the effectiveness of image restoration strategies can vary greatly according to cultural, political and media variables of each country.     

Letter Opinion on ERA: A Test of the Newspaper Bias Hypothesis

This paper compares letter opinion (opinions expressed in publishedletters-to-the-editor) with public opinion on ERA. Prior researchhas suggested that letter opinion is biased by atypical letterwriters or by newspaper editorial policies which are used toselect letters for publication. Drawing on a national sampleof 92 daily newspapers, no substantial difference between letteropinion and public opinion on ERA is detected. Little supportis found for the hypothesis that newspaper policies bias letteropinion.     

名微博舆情调查及其对青年的影响

名微博具有"裂变式"的传播路径、"去层级"的互动交流、"导向性"的名人舆论场等特点。利用浙江微博平台展开的舆情调查,着重了解名微博的舆论领域、舆论关注度、舆情态度、重要关注点、影响人群结构、舆情触发及传播机制等情况。名微博舆情传播的"涵化效应"推动了青年参与社会舆论,名微博舆情导向的"集聚效应"引导青年扩宽人际圈,名微博言论植入的"微博营销"引导青年改变消费观念。因此,从政府、用户、运营商3个角度完善体制机制、制度保驾护航,加强微博引导,完善平台管理,从而规范对青年的影响。     

权利与权力：对网络舆论中大学生政治表达解读

聚焦权利和权力这对政治学的核心概念，将大学生对权利和权力的认识于网络舆情中予以考察，并集中对10个舆论案例的文本进行了实证研究。分析了大学生在网络舆论表达中的话语特征，指出互联网已在一定程度上改变了大学生政治认同的固有机制，即政治认知的媒介化、政治情感的宣泄化和政治行为的虚拟化。思想政治教育工作者要重视网络舆论对大学生政治认同的影响，及时做好网上和网下的引导工作。     

Fear of the "Alien Other": Cultural Anxiety and Opinions about Japan

American public opinion toward Japan grew more negative coincident with 1980s "Japan-bashing" media messages. Two theories of opinion formation provide explanations for this. Democratic representation theory understands opinions as rational responses to new information. Cultural interpretation theory holds that public opinion is based on one's receptiveness to media discourse. Opinion is neither a rational response to information nor the passive acceptance of elite dictates. People differentially interpret media messages and form opinions in a process that is shaped by media attentiveness and their subjective cultural anxieties. Survey data permit an indirect test of the two theories applied to anti-Japan opinion. OLS regression analysis performed on GSS for four time periods reveals that anti-Japan opinion is rooted less in "rational" responses to personal economic insecurity or fear of increased global competition than in racial attitudes and domestic social-cultural concerns. America's negative opinion toward Japan in the 1990s is better understood as domestic anxieties that are redirected toward a symbolic target that the mass media has highlighted.     

Talking War: How Elite U.S. Newspaper Editorials and Opinion Pieces Debated the Attack on Iraq

Abstract

This paper examines how elite newspaper editorials and opinion pieces (hereafter collectively called op-eds) debated the attack on Iraq. The period examined was the two months preceding Congress's October 2002 authorization of the use of force against Iraq. The 292 op-ed pieces examined represent one of the most extensive looks at such op-ed activity in the United States.

There were several major findings. First, contrary to some liberal charges, the commentary overall was more critical than supportive of the administration. On the other side, however, if the elite press was not slavishly supportive of U.S. foreign policy, its criticisms were also rather muted. Supported therefore is the view that the elite media keep respectable opinion on foreign policy within a narrow range that excludes the most damaging criticism. Most notably missing from the print debate on Iraq in this period was much objection to the attack on specifically legal or moral grounds. The avoidance by the elite press of legal and moral language arguably helped convey the general impression that no legal or moral considerations were at stake. At the very least, it is shown, this sector of the public sphere did little to help the nation as a whole to deliberate morally about war.     

Popular Opinion on Homosexuality: The Shared Moral Language of Opposing Views

Those on one side of a hostile political debate may feel that their opponents "just speak a different language." I argue that proponents of deeply conflicting opinions may have more in common than they think. I use textual analysis of arguments for and against gay parenting to demonstrate that the opponents–both pro and con–structure their arguments using the same basic set of concepts: family, rights, and prejudice. I argue that people's statements of opinion can be understood as more than manifestations of individual psychology. Rather, people's one-sided arguments are rhetorical attempts to leverage powerful basic ideas of right and wrong as support. Debates, therefore, become battles of competing claims to ownership of basic concepts of good and bad. The basic concepts are beyond debate; the struggle takes place over appropriating them for one's side. In a debate, therefore, those on opposite sides of an issue often "talk right past each other"; those on one side cannot deny the significance of the basic concepts claimed by their opponents, so they generally ignore their opponents'models and instead keep repeating their own.     

当前互联网管理和舆论引导工作存在的问题及对策建议

随着中国社会信息化进程的加速,互联网的发展和普及,原本处于内隐状态的中国社会舆论达到前所未有的外显程度,网络舆论力量日益强大,对我国互联网管理体制和传统的舆论引导带来冲击和挑战。在研判当前我国的网络及网络舆论环境现状的基础上,分析我国网络及网络舆论环境中出现的问题,并针对当前互联网络管理及舆论引导中存在的问题提出建议。     

新媒体视角下廊坊市社会舆情教育与管理研究

新媒体对社会舆情具有双重影响：一方面,公众可以借此学习各种知识,关注社会发展,推动社会进步;另一方面,新媒体使日常舆论引导难度逐渐增大,政府公信力受到影响,网络信息安全面临挑战。面对此种情况,针对新媒体认识不足等突出问题,廊坊市应采取有效措施,优化社会舆论环境,建立新媒体舆情监测预警系统,科学调解控制社会舆情,拓宽公众表达渠道,促进社会政治经济健康发展。     

Does perceived incongruence in opinion climate influence the degree of outspokenness? Evidence from two national events in China

This study extends the spiral silence theory and investigates the influence of perceived incongruence in opinion climate on individuals' intentions to express their true thoughts. Three intervening variables were examined to explain the process by which perceived incongruence in opinion climate leads to self-censorship: ambivalence, perceived opinion support, and internet political efficacy. Using data collected in telephone interviews with a random sample of 1020 Chinese residents in Shanghai and Guangzhou, we found that individual perceptions of the opinion climate varied considerably, and they were based on different media outlets. The Chinese audience is able to tell the difference between traditional media and the internet in terms of the features of their content. Moreover, among the Guangzhou residents, we found that the perceived incongruence in opinion climate was negatively related to the individual's willingness to express his or her true thoughts. Perceived opinion support was found the most robust intervening variable among the three proposed mediators.     

Colonial Governmentality and the Public Sphere in India

Colonial governmentality in India reconstituted the public sphere. New political rationalities that constituted modern governmental power and the liberal technologies of government effected a new conception of economy and society. Governmentality's governance of colonial conduct in an improving direction socialized native public opinion to question the legitimacy of the colonial covenant. As native opinion against colonial rule sharpened, colonial liberalism had often to make a volte-face of its liberal principle and was forced to suppress public opinion. Gandhi alone sought to overturn colonial governmentality and in doing so, provided a conception of public opinion that could transcend the limits of liberal reason.     

Colonial Governmentality and the Public Sphere in India

Colonial governmentality in India reconstituted the public sphere. New political rationalities that constituted modern governmental power and the liberal technologies of government effected a new conception of economy and society. Governmentality's governance of colonial conduct in an improving direction socialized native public opinion to question the legitimacy of the colonial covenant. As native opinion against colonial rule sharpened, colonial liberalism had often to make a volte-face of its liberal principle and was forced to suppress public opinion. Gandhi alone sought to overturn colonial governmentality and in doing so, provided a conception of public opinion that could transcend the limits of liberal reason.     

Following the "Mail Hawks": Alternative Measures of Public Opinion on Vietnam in the Johnson White House

Scholars argue that public opinion grew in importance duringthe Vietnam conflict, yet most find President Johnson was notresponsive to public opinion during the War. We amplify thesetheories by demonstrating the practical value of public opinionmail sent to the White House on Vietnam, reshaping theoriesabout the constraining role of public opinion in foreign policy.We find that the White House mail, but not opinion polling,favoring escalation of the War had a significant and positiveimpact on President Johnson's policy rhetoric. From these andsimilar findings, we conclude that the Johnson Administrationfollowed core "hawkish" political allies (those individualsdesiring a rapid escalation and quick end to the war) ratherthan those approving of a withdrawal, suggesting mail-gaugedopinion from electoral partners (and core political allies morebroadly) has value in foreign policy making.     

论网络语境下当代青年的爱国主义教育

随着互联网时代的到来,网络语境下当代青年的爱国主义教育缺失日渐凸显,在部分青年群体中存在潜在的网络极端化爱国主义舆论倾向。分析发现:从问题的出现或偶然性事件的刺激到多数个体发表的评价性意见,再到"群体极化"现象的出现,最终极端化爱国主义舆论在互联网上广泛传播是网络极端化爱国主义舆论的基本形成机制。如此网络极端化爱国主义舆论不可避免地对国家、社会、制度和青年自身产生一系列的危害。网络语境下当代青年的爱国主义引导是新时期爱国主义教育的重要课题:应该正视青年的爱国情感,加强爱国主义教育;立足祖国长远利益,培养青年的理性爱国情感;增强舆论引导,减少青年非理性情绪的蔓延,对青年的网络极端化爱国主义舆论进行积极有效的引导。     

Reading Between the Lines of Consumer Confidence Measures

Public opinion data about consumer buying intentions have provento be reliable indicators of future economic trends. This demonstratesthe advisability of including well-informed public opinion datain public policy planning. This introduction and the three essaysthat follow are based on a panel on "Taking the Pulse of theEconomy: A Fresh Look at Economic Indicators", which was presentedat the 1981 Annual AAPOR Conference.     

间隔年与中国青年社会化

当前,中国年轻一代在社会化方面遇到很多的困惑,而从西方"舶来"的"间隔年"对于年轻人的生活观纠偏、世界观重塑、价值观内化、人生观培育、生命观感悟以及正能量传递等方面有潜移默化的影响和积极的促进作用,"间隔年"加速了中国青年社会化的进程。