(1 credit class)

Today’s citizens are constantly peppered with information about public opinion, much of it from polls. To make sense of this information, and public opinion, this course will provide students with some of the empirical analysis skills necessary to function effectively in a democratic society. In this way, students will gain a better understanding of the world around them by making informed judgments about information and its sources.

There are many benefits to learning how to analyze and evaluate public opinion. For example, this course introduces students to some of the skill set elements necessary to conduct research or work in the following fields: a survey research organization, an interest group, a political campaign, government, or journalism. Students will learn a variety of research design and analysis concepts with a focus on public opinion and its impact on politics in the following areas:

• Political socialization
• Mass media
• Political knowledge
• Policymaking

Students will meet in class a total of 4 hours in class. An additional 8.5 hours will be conducted on-line, through coursework, lab work and on-line discussions.

The format of the course will be mixture of lecture and discussion, and web based project work. The course will be supported by Blackboard; a great deal of it will be conducted independently and on-line. The course will provide exercises that are routed in the context of public opinion.

Students will use the web based data analysis program, Survey Documentation and Analysis, or SDA, developed by the Computer-Assisted Survey Methods Program at The University of California, Berkeley.