Polling and Democracy: Executive Summary of the AAPOR Task Force Report on Public Opinion and Leadership

Newport, Frank; Shapiro, Robert Y.; Ayres, Whit; Belden, Nancy; Fishkin, James S.; Fung, Archon; Herbst, Susan; Lake, Celinda; Page, Benjamin I.; Page, S.; Pinkerton, James P.; Selzer, Jordan; Warren, Mark E.

doi:10.1093/poq/nft039

Cited by 10 publications

(8 citation statements)

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“…Uhlenbrock et al () explain, “scientists shy away from being part of this dialogue because some science policy issues have become polarized… [yet] however ominous it may seem for scientists to venture into the communication world, there is a great need not only for dissemination of the information but also for science to have a regular voice in the conversation” (p. 95) (also see Lupia, ). Scientists cannot do this alone, however, and thus some of the responsibility falls on scientific organizations: “Scientific societies and organizations can play a central role in science policy discourse in addition to an individual scientist's voice” (Uhlenbrock et al, , p. 98; also see Newport et al, ). This is critical if scientific disciplines hope to present consensus or near consensus statements about varying scientific issues.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Scientists and other actors attempt to counteract politicization, when it exists, by asserting scientific consensus. It is these types of communication efforts to which Uhlenbrock, Landau, and Hankin () refer when emphasizing that “[scientific] societies and organizations can play a central role in science policy discourse in addition to an individual scientist's voice” (p. 98, also see Newport et al, ). We next present a framework that generates predictions about when efforts to counteract politicization are likely to be effective.…”

Section: The Politicization Of Sciencementioning

confidence: 99%

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Counteracting the Politicization of Science

2015

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Few trends in science have generated as much discussion as its politicization. Politicization occurs when an actor emphasizes the inherent uncertainty of science to cast doubt on the existence of scientific consensus. This causes citizens to dismiss credible scientific information and undermines the positive role that science can play in informing political debates on issues with substantial scientific content (Dietz, 2013). Yet, politicization does not occur in a vacuum: Scientists and other opinion leaders can and do work to counteract it. Whether and when their attempts are successful, however, remain unanswered questions.We address these questions by first offering a precise definition of the politicization of science. We then develop a framework that generates predictions about the conditions under which communications can counteract politicization efforts aimed at novel energy technologies, focusing on support for hydraulic fracturing and carbon nanotubes (CNTs). We test these predictions with survey experiments conducted on nationally representative samples in the United States. The results demonstrate that communication efforts to counteract politicization can be effective under certain conditions. Specifically, warnings about future politicization attenuate its effects and lead

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Politicization Of Sciencementioning

confidence: 99%

Counteracting the Politicization of Science

2015

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“…It is here that the matters explored in this article have pernicious effects on the public's ability to hear itself-extending well beyond U.S. campaigns and elections. Scientific surveys are among the best available tools for reliably revealing the public's preferences, but the perceived failure of polls to predict the outcomes of close elections and the ongoing struggles of journalists to report on opinion data amidst a persistent lack of methodological transparency (Newport et al, 2013) threatens to undermine confidence in opinion research. That makes it easier for leaders to dismiss and ignore the public's concerns expressed through those surveys.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The ‘Nate Silver effect’ on political journalism: Gatecrashers, gatekeepers, and changing newsroom practices around coverage of public opinion polls

Toff

2017

Journalism

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This article presents findings from 41 in-depth interviews with political journalists, media analysts, and public opinion pollsters in the U.S. These interviews document several trends in how journalists assess and cover public opinion. The article shows (1) a growing interest in and reliance on polling aggregator websites fueled by demands for precise predictions; (2) the erosion of news organizations' abilities to assert independent gatekeeping standards around individual poll results; (3) concerns about the level of inhouse expertise within newsrooms to adjudicate between surveys; and (4) changing attitudes about the importance of gatekeeping around public opinion data. These findings reflect an increasingly complex landscape of opinion data, which conventional news organizations appear ill-equipped to navigate.

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“…He is also co--author and co--editor of several books and articles published on these themes, such as the Oxford Handbook of American Public Opinion and the Media (edited with Lawrence R. Jacobs, Oxford University Press 2011). It should be stressed that Shapiro has been published on this subject for many years, as author and co--author, with articles spanning from 1983 (Page & Shapiro, 1983) to 2011 (Shapiro, 2011) and 2013 (Newport et al, 2013). Jacobs also has many years of experience in researching the theme, with special mention for his work in the 1980s (Jacobs & Shapiro, 1989) and after 2010 (Jacobs & Mettle, 2011).…”

Section: Research Front (Sample Of Articles From Web Of Science)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Public Opinion: Bibliometric Analysis for the Systematization of Trends

Silva

Prado

Alcântara

et al. 2018

HOLOS

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This paper sought to identify trends in the research of "public opinion", allowing for an analysis of the field in a systematized manner. We carried out a bibliometric study of 2,536 articles selected from the Web of Science. We aimed to characterize the research front and intellectual base of the field. In relation to the research front, we noted an increase in publications between 1945 and 2016; we identified Robert Shapiro and Lawrence Jacobs as the most productive authors; among the most referenced articles were those by Gamson and Modigliani (1989) and Page and Shapiro (1983). We also identified that the majority of articles are: by North American authors; were published in the journals Public Opinion Quarterly and Sotsiologicheskie Issledovaniya; are indexed in the categories of Government & Law and Political Science and represented by the keywords public opinion, attitudes, support, policy, the United States and politics. With regard to the intellectual base in the journal co-citation network, the Public Opinion Quarterly, American Political Science Review and American Journal of Political Science stood out. In the author co-citation network the most prominent authors were Page and Zaller. In the analysis of the references co-citation, the most frequent texts in the network were by Zaller (1992) and Page and Shapiro (1992). We concluded that scientific output on public opinion is on the increase, with a dynamic expansion of the research front and intellectual base.

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Polling and Democracy: Executive Summary of the AAPOR Task Force Report on Public Opinion and Leadership

Cited by 10 publications

References 0 publications

Counteracting the Politicization of Science

Counteracting the Politicization of Science

The ‘Nate Silver effect’ on political journalism: Gatecrashers, gatekeepers, and changing newsroom practices around coverage of public opinion polls

Public Opinion: Bibliometric Analysis for the Systematization of Trends

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