PO 633: PUBLIC OPINION AND SURVEY DESIGN

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PO 633: PUBLIC OPINION AND SURVEY DESIGN

Wilfrid Laurier University

Department of Political Science

Winter 2017

Instructor: Timothy B. Gravelle, PhD

Email: [email protected]

Telephone: 647-515-2561

Class Time: Wednesday, 8:30–11:20

Classroom: DAWB 2–104

Office Hours: Wednesday, 11:30–12:30, or by appointment

Office: DAWB 4–132

Wilfrid Laurier University uses software that can check for plagiarism. Students may be required to

submit their written work in electronic form have it checked for plagiarism.

Students with disabilities or in need of accommodations are encouraged to contact Laurier's Accessible

Learning Office (https://accessiblelearning.wlu.ca/) for information regarding its services and resources.

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course has two goals. The first goal is to explore the central theories and selected key themes

in the fields of public opinion and political behaviour. The second goal is to introduce students

to the practice of survey research, part of which involves designing and executing a survey

research project for a client.

The course is divided into three parts.

Part I serves as an overview of landmark scholarship in public opinion research. It engages with

questions about the role of public opinion in representative democracy, and the structure and

formation of individual attitudes and beliefs.

Part II is devoted to the practical aspects of measuring public opinion – in other words, the art

and science of doing public opinion research. It examines survey questionnaire design, sampling,

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and survey interviewing and data collection. It also introduces students to questions of research

ethics relevant to survey research and professional standards in the survey research industry.

Part III is a (non-random, purposive) sample of research topics in public opinion and political

behaviour that are active areas of research.

COURSE OBJECTIVES

• Develop knowledge of core concepts and theories in the fields of public opinion, political

behaviour, and survey methodology.

• Understand and evaluate different methodologies used to measure and explain public

opinion, their strengths and limitations, and how they can be applied to new research

questions.

• Develop an appreciation of the challenges of relating theory to empirical data in public

opinion research, and the social sciences more broadly.

• Demonstrate through one’s written work and seminar discussions the ability to synthesize,

engage critically with, and extend the scholarly literature on public opinion.

• Acquire knowledge of the dynamics of public opinion and political behaviour on a range of

substantive topics – in Canada, and in other national contexts.

REQUIRED TEXTS

There are three required texts for the course:

Andres, Lesley. 2012. Designing and Doing Survey Research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Berinsky, Adam J., ed. 2016. New Directions in Public Opinion. 2nd Ed. New York: Routledge.

Zaller, John. 1992. The Nature and Origins of Mass Opinion. Cambridge: Cambridge University

Press.

All texts are available for purchase at the WLU bookstore, or may be purchased online through

various booksellers. The Andres and Zaller texts have also been put on reserve at the WLU

library; the Berinsky text is available as an e-book through the WLU library.

Most required articles and chapters have been made available electronically via WLU’s online

reserve system, ARES – https://ares.wlu.ca/. Please note that I receive usage reports from ARES

https://ares.wlu.ca/

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that allows me to identify access. Other resources are available online, or on reserve at the WLU

library (where indicated).

Students should also consult and MyLearningSpace (MLS – https://mylearningspace.wlu.ca/)

for additional course resources.

COURSE ASSESSMENT

10% Class participation – ongoing

10% Discussion leadership – once during term

15% Book review, 700–900 words – due February 1

20% Survey design – due March 1

5% Ethics review – due March 8

40% Research essay, 4500–5000 words due March 29

100%

Since this is an advanced seminar, students are expected to come to class having read the

assigned readings and prepared to discuss the material. Students at the MA level are further

expected to read beyond the assigned readings, choosing 1–2 readings from the lists of further

reading per week.

Students will be required to lead discussion once during the term. This will entail delivering a

short (15 minutes maximum) summary presentation of the required readings at the start of the

seminar, followed by 2–3 proposed questions to start discussion. Students will work alone or in

groups of two in leading discussion (depending on class numbers).

Being able to summarize briefly a large amount of text and engaging critically with the work of

others are important skills at the senior undergraduate and graduate levels. To practice these

skills, students will write a book review of 700–900 words (or 2–3 pages) modelled on those

published in scholarly journals. A (non-exhaustive) list of books appears below. Students are

encouraged to consult relevant journals such as the Canadian Journal of Political Science and

Public Opinion Quarterly for examples of such reviews. Book reviews are due in class on

February 1.

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Working in small groups (3-4 students in each), students will draw upon our readings and class

discussions to develop a survey for an on-campus client. Representative(s) will be on hand to

discuss their needs during class February 8. Following this meeting, groups will have two

weeks to develop their survey instrument. Each group will then present their surveys to the

client, outlining the reasoning behind their design during class on March 1. Following this

meeting, the group surveys will be used as the basis for an online survey that will be

administered to Laurier students. The results of this study will be presented in our final class

(schedule permitting).

Students will complete individual ethics review reports based on their group work. Students

will follow the WLU Research Ethics Board Review Form to complete this assignment. The

ethics reviews are due in class on March 8.

The research essay will be an extended analysis of 3000–3500 words (or 12–15 pages) of a subject

of the student’s choosing, related to the course material, and approved by the course instructor.

Research essays are due in class on March 29.

BOOKS FOR REVIEW

The titles listed below are a list of recent (or semi-recent) books on public opinion and political

behaviour. Students may choose any title from the list on which to write their book review. This

list, however, is not exhaustive, and students are welcome choose another title that deals with

some aspect of public opinion (and subject to the approval of the course instructor).

Abrajano, Marisa and Zoltan L. Hajnal. 2015. White Backlash: Immigration, Race, and American

Politics. Princeton: Princeton University Press

Baum, Matthew A. and Tim J. Groeling. 2010. War Stories: The Causes and Consequences of Public

Views of War. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Baum, Matthew A. and Philip B. K. Potter. 2015. War and Democratic Constraint: How the Public

Influences Foreign Policy. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Berinsky, Adam J. 2009. In Time of War: Understanding American Public Opinion from World War II

to Iraq. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

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Clarke, Harold D., Allan Kornberg, and Thomas J. Scotto. 2008. Making Political Choices: Canada

and the United States. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

Cochrane, Christopher. 2015. Left and Right: The Small World of Political Ideas. Montreal and

Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press.

Druckman, James N. and Lawrence R. Jacobs. 2013. Who Governs? Presidents, Public Opinion, and

Manipulation. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Feldman, Stanley, Leonie Huddy and George E. Marcus. 2015. Going to War in Iraq: When

Citizens and the Press Matter. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Gelpi, Christopher, Peter D. Feaver and Jason Reifler. 2009. Paying the Human Costs of War:

American Public Opinion and Casualties in Military Conflicts. Princeton: Princeton University

Press.

Gidengil, Elisabeth, Neil Nevitte, André Blais, Joanna Everitt, and Patrick Fournier. 2012.

Dominance and Decline: Making Sense of Recent Canadian Elections. Toronto: University of

Toronto Press.

Masuoka, Natalie and Jane Junn. 2013. The Politics of Belonging: Race, Public Opinion, and

Immigration. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Mondak, Jeffery J. 2010. Personality and the Foundations of Political Behavior. Cambridge:

Cambridge University Press.

Newman, Bruce L. 2016. The Marketing Revolution in Politics: What Recent U.S. Presidential

Campaigns Can Teach Us about Effective Marketing. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

Pérez, Efrén O. 2016. Unspoken Politics: Implicit Attitudes and Political Thinking. Cambridge:


Sinclair, Betsy. 2015. The Social Citizen: Peer Networks and Political Behavior. Chicago: University

of Chicago Press.

Soroka, Stuart N. 2014. Negativity in Democratic Politics: Causes and Consequences. Cambridge:


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A NOTE ON QUANTITATIVE METHODS

This is not a course in quantitative methods as such. Rather, it is a course that engages with

landmark and current research in public opinion and political behaviour – a field of social

science that is often quantitative in character, sometimes heavily so. A solid grasp of basic

quantitative methods is therefore essential to success in this course (hence the course

prerequisites).

At the same time, much current research in public opinion and political behaviour employs

quantitative methods beyond what is covered in introductory social science research methods

(but not that far beyond). The ability to understand and interpret the results from multivariate

data analyses – even if you are not familiar with how to implement them yourself – is critical to

being able to engage with most current published work in public opinion and political

behaviour. The readings below are intended to acquaint students with multiple linear

regression, logistic regression, and factor analysis – techniques that will appear repeatedly

throughout the term.

Healey, Joseph F. and Steven Prus. 2013. Statistics: A Tool for Social Research, 2nd Cdn. ed.

Toronto: Nelson. Ch. 14. [linear regression]

Pollock, Philip H. 2015. The Essentials of Political Analysis. 5th Ed. Washington, DC: CQ Press.

Chs. 8-9. [linear and logistic regression]

Kline, Paul 1994. An Easy Guide to Factor Analysis. London: Routledge. Ch. 1. [factor analysis]

COURSE POLICIES, OR, THE FINE PRINT

Please note the following carefully. Registration in the course constitutes your agreement to the

following rules. I don’t mean to sound harsh here, but it’s best to be clear on all of this at the

outset.

• This course will require students to think critically and analytically. Students will be required

to engage with different theories of public opinion and political behaviour, as well as

analyze and interpret public opinion data, and data from other sources. My role as

instructor is to show you different ways to approach the subject, not to tell you what to

think (or write about).

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• The option of additional work to improve your course grade is not available for this course.

• Students must submit all work in a timely manner to receive a passing grade for the course.

• Students must submit their written work in hard copy on 8.5x11 paper with one-inch

margins using a standard 12-point font such as Times New Roman.

• Word limits for written work will be enforced, with overlength and underlength papers

being penalized. Conforming to a set word/page limit is an important writing skill, and it

forms part of the evaluation.

• You must submit your assignments on the due date by 12:00 (noon). Assignments not

submitted on the due date and time without a valid reason (e.g., serious illness or

bereavement) will receive a penalty of 2.5% of the assignment grade per calendar day.

• Students are advised to keep all rough work and both electronic and paper copies of their

submitted written work. These should be retained until the graded work is returned.

• I will grant reasonable extensions for the submission of assignments for good reasons (e.g.,

serious illness or bereavement). Multiple assignments coming due at the same time (which

is a lot like the real world!) or work in other courses do not constitute “good reasons.” If you

have several assignments due at the same time, you should manage your time accordingly.

• If you request an extension for another reason, please request it in advance if at all possible,

and be prepared to provide relevant documentation.

• I ask that you not disrupt our teaching or your classmates’ learning. So, please avoid the

following behaviours: habitually coming to class late; conversing with neighbours during

class; packing up before class is finished; taking (or making!) calls on your cell phone.

• As a part-time instructor with other professional obligations, I will typically not be on

campus except on days when class is scheduled. This does not mean that I am not available

to you. I am available by email, phone, and also by Skype (contact details to be provided in

class).

• Academic integrity is greatly valued in this course. Academic misconduct occurs in a

variety of forms. Students are required to familiarise themselves with the University policies

on Plagiarism Academic Dishonesty as well as the associated penalties which can be severe.

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Plagiarism: According to the Academic Calendar (2016-17), plagiarism “involves using the

thoughts, ideas, or writings of another person passing them off as your own (adapted from

the Oxford English Dictionary definition). It can involve taking credit for ideas that were not

your own or using the words of others without properly citing them.” Further information

can be found online. Should you have any questions about these issues please feel free to

discuss them with me. Collaboration: all of the work produced by students needs to be the

product of their own individual efforts. Although discussion of topics is to be expected this

work needs to reflect original individual ideas be written independently.

JOURNALS

Many journals carry articles of concern to students of public opinion, political behaviour, and

survey methodology. Some of the journals in political science (as well as those from cognate

disciplines such as sociology, psychology, communication, and statistics) are listed below.

These should be noted and used as necessary, especially in researching and writing your

research papers.

Acta Politica Party Politics

Advances in Experimental Social Psychology Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin

American Behavioral Scientist Personality and Social Psychology Review

American Journal of Political Science Perspectives on Psychological Science

American Journal of Sociology Policy Studies Journal

American Political Science Review Political Analysis

American Sociological Review Political Behavior

Annual Review of Political Science Political Communication

Annual Review of Psychology Political Psychology

Annual Review of Sociology Political Research Quarterly

Behavior Research Methods Political Science Research and Methods

British Journal of Political Science Psychological Bulletin

Canadian Journal of Political Science Public Choice

Comparative Political Studies Public Opinion Quarterly

Electoral Studies Quality and Quantity

https://students.wlu.ca/academics/academic-integrity/index.html

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European Journal of Political Research Quarterly Journal of Political Science

Field Methods Review of Policy Research

International Journal of Public Opinion Research Social Forces

International Journal of Social Research Methodology Social Indicators Research

Journal of Communication Social Science Computer Review

Journal of Elections, Public Opinion and Parties Social Science Journal

Journal of Experimental Political Science Social Science Quarterly

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology Social Science Research

Journal of Survey Statistics and Methodology Sociological Methodology

Journal of Politics Sociological Methods and Research

Legislative Studies Quarterly Survey Methodology

Methodology Survey Practice

Parliamentary Affairs Survey Research Methods

CLASS SCHEDULE AND COURSE READINGS

Part I: Theories and Foundations

1. January 4: The Substance of Public Opinion; Public Opinion and Democracy

Required reading

Berinsky, Adam J. 2016. “Introduction.” In New Directions in Public Opinion, 2nd ed., edited by

Adam J. Berinsky, 1–17. New York: Routledge.

Herbst, Susan. 2016. “The History and Meaning of Public Opinion.” In New Directions in Public

Opinion, 2nd ed., edited by Adam J. Berinsky, 21–33. New York: Routledge.

Gilens, Martin. 2016. “Two Thirds Full? Citizen Competence and Democratic Governance.” In

New Directions in Public Opinion, 2nd ed., edited by Adam J. Berinsky, 54–77. New York:

Routledge.

Price, Vincent. 2007. “The Public and Public Opinion in Political Theories.” In The Sage Handbook

of Public Opinion Research, edited by Wolfgang Donsbach and Michael W. Traugott, 11–24.

Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

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Required reading – quantitative methods background

Healey, Joseph F. and Steven Prus. 2013. Statistics: A Tool for Social Research, 2nd Cdn. ed.,

Toronto: Nelson. Ch. 14. [linear regression]

Further reading

Butler, Peter M. 2007. Polling and Public Opinion: A Canadian Perspective. Toronto: University of

Toronto Press. Chapter 1.

Oberschall, Anthony. 2007. “The Historical Roots of Public Opinion Research.” In The Sage

Handbook of Public Opinion Research, edited by Wolfgang Donsbach and Michael W. Traugott,

83–93. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Zetterberg, Hans L. 2007. “The Start of Modern Public Opinion Research.” In The Sage Handbook



Soroka, Stuart N., and Christopher Wlezien. 2008. Degrees of Democracy: Politics, Public Opinion

and Policy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Chapter 1.

2. January 11: Political Knowledge, Political Sophistication, and Citizen Competence

Required reading

Converse, Philip E. 1964. “The Nature of Belief Systems in Mass Publics.” In Ideology and

Discontent, edited by David Apter. New York: Free Press [on reserve].

Delli Carpini, Michael X. and Scott Keeter. 1997. What Americans Know About Politics and Why It

Matters. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. Chapters 2–3 [on reserve].

Zaller, John R. 1992. The Nature and Origins of Mass Opinion. Cambridge: Cambridge University

Press. Chapters 1–2.


Pollock, Philip H. 2015. The Essentials of Political Analysis. 5th Ed. Washington, DC: CQ Press.

Ch. 9. [logistic regression]

Further reading

Delli Carpini, Michael X., and Scott Keeter. 1993. “Measuring Political Knowledge: Putting First

Things First.” American Journal of Political Science 37(4): 1179–1206.

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Delli Carpini, Michael X., and Scott Keeter. 1991. “Stability and Change in the U.S. Public’s

Knowledge of Politics.” Public Opinion Quarterly 55(4): 583–612.

Goren, Paul. 2004. “Political Sophistication and Policy Reasoning: A Reconsideration.” American

Journal of Political Science 48(3): 462–78

Luskin, Robert C. 1987. “Measuring Political Sophistication.” American Journal of Political Science

31(4): 856–99.

Luskin, Robert C. 1990. “Explaining Political Sophistication.” Political Behavior 12(4): 331–61.

Visser, Penny S., Allyson Holbrook, and Jon A. Krosnick. 2007. “Knowledge and Attitudes.” In

The Sage Handbook of Public Opinion Research, edited by Wolfgang Donsbach and Michael W.

Traugott, 127–141. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

3. January 18: Opinion Formation and Opinion Change

Required reading

Zaller, John R. 1992. The Nature and Origins of Mass Opinion. Cambridge: Cambridge University

Press. Chapters 3–7, 10.

Further reading

Fletcher, Joseph F. and Marie-Christine Chalmers. 1991. “Attitudes of Canadians toward

Affirmative Action: Opposition, Value Pluralism, and Nonattitudes.” Political Behavior 13(1):

67-95.

Zaller, John R. 1991. “Information, Values, and Opinion.” American Political Science Review 85(4):

1215–37.

Zaller, John R. 1994. “Elite Leadership of Mass Opinion: New Evidence from the Gulf War.” In

Taken by Storm: The Media, Public Opinion, and U.S. Foreign Policy in the Gulf War, edited by

W. Lance Bennett and David Paletz, 186–209. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

4. January 25: Party Identification and Ideology

Required reading

Federico, Christopher. 2016. “The Structure, Foundations and Expression of Ideology.” In New

Directions in Public Opinion, edited by Adam J. Berinsky, 81–103. New York: Routledge.

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Hetherington, Marc. 2016. “Partisanship and Polarization.” In New Directions in Public Opinion,

edited by Adam J. Berinsky, 146–164. New York: Routledge.

Campbell, Angus, Philip E. Converse, Warren E. Miller, and Donald E. Stokes. 1960. The

American Voter. New York: Wiley. Chapter 7 [on reserve].

Stephenson, Laura B., Thomas J. Scotto, and Allan Kornberg. 2004. “Slip, Sliding Away or Le

Plus Ça Change...: Canadian and American Partisanship in Comparative Perspective.”

American Review of Canadian Studies 34(2): 283–312.

Cochrane, Christopher. 2010. “Left–Right Ideology and Canadian Politics—Corrected Version.”

Canadian Journal of Political Science 43(4).

Further reading

Bartels, Larry M. 2002. “Beyond the Running Tally: Partisan Bias in Political Perceptions.”

Political Behavior 24(2): 117–50.

Bélanger, Eric, and Laura B. Stephenson. 2014. “The Comparative Study of Canadian Voting

Behaviour.” In Comparing Canada: Methods and Perspectives on Canadian Politics, edited by Luc

Turgeon, Martin Papillon, Jennifer Wallner and Stephen White, 97–122. Vancouver, BC:

University of British Columbia Press.

Blais, André, Elisabeth Gidengil, Richard Nadeau and Neil Nevitte. 2001. “Measuring Party

Identification: Britain, Canada, and the United States.” Political Behavior 23(1): 5-22.

Carsey, Thomas M., and Geoffrey C. Layman. 2006. “Changing Sides or Changing Minds? Party

Identification and Policy Preferences in the American Electorate.” American Journal of

Political Science 50(2): 464–77.

Goren, Paul. 2005. “Party Identification and Core Political Values.” American Journal of Political

Science 49(4): 881–96.

Johnston, Richard. 2006. “Party Identification: Unmoved Mover or Sum of Preferences?” Annual

Review of Political Science 9: 329-351.

Jost, John T., Brian A. Nosek, and Samuel D. Gosling. 2008. “Ideology: Its Resurgence in Social,

Personality, and Political Psychology.” Perspectives on Psychological Science 3(2): 126–36.

Lewis-Beck, Michael S., William G. Jacoby, Helmut Norpoth, and Herbert F. Weisberg. 2008. The

American Voter Revisited. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press. Chapter 7.

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Part II: Measuring Public Opinion

5. February 1: The Practice of Survey Research – Questionnaire Design, Sampling, Fieldwork

Required reading

Hillygus, D. Sunshine. 2016. “The Practice of Survey Research: Changes and Challenges.” In

New Directions in Public Opinion, edited by Adam J. Berinsky, 34–53. New York: Routledge.

Andres, Lesley. 2012. Designing and Doing Survey Research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Chapters

1–8 [on reserve].

Further reading

Fink, Arlene. 2002. How to Ask Survey Questions. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Baker, Reg, et al. 2013. “Summary Report of the AAPOR Task Force on Non-Probability

Sampling.” Journal of Survey Statistics and Methodology 1(2): 90–105.

Baker, Reg, et al. 2010. “AAPOR Report on Online Panels.” Public Opinion Quarterly 74(4): 711-

781.

Rivers, Douglas, 2006. Sample Matching: Representative Sampling from Internet Panels. Polimetrix.

Yeager, David S., Jon A. Krosnick, et al. 2011. “Comparing the Accuracy of RDD Telephone

Surveys and Internet Surveys Conducted with Probability and Non-Probability Samples.”

Public Opinion Quarterly 75(4): 709–47.

Ansolabehere, Stephen, and Brian F. Schaffner. 2014. “Does Survey Mode Still Matter? Findings

from a 2010 Multi-Mode Comparison.” Political Analysis 22(3): 285–303.

Stephenson, Laura B., and Jean Crête. 2010. “Studying Political Behavior: A Comparison of

Internet and Telephone Surveys.” International Journal of Public Opinion Research 23(1): 24–55.

Dillman, Don A., Jolene D. Smyth, and Leah Melani Christian. 2014. Internet, Phone, Mail, and

Mixed-Mode Surveys: The Tailored Design Method. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley [on reserve].

Donsbach, Wolfgang, and Michael W. Traugott eds. 2007. The Sage Handbook of Public Opinion

Research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Part III – Methodology.

Groves, Robert M., Floyd J. Fowler, Mick P. Couper, James M. Lepkowski, Eleanor Singer, and

Roger Tourangeau. 2009. Survey Methodology. 2nd ed. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley [on reserve].

Weisberg, Herbert F. 2005. The Total Survey Error Approach: A Guide to the New Science of Survey

Research. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

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6. February 8: Client visit

No required reading this week – the Dillman et al., Groves et al., Donsbach and Traugott, and

Weisberg books (see February 1, week 5 above) are recommended further reading on designing

surveys.

7. February 15: The Practice of Survey Research – Ethics and Professional Standards

Required reading

Groves, Robert M., Floyd J. Fowler, Mick P. Couper, James M. Lepkowski, Eleanor Singer, and

Roger Tourangeau. 2009. Survey Methodology. 2nd ed. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. Chapter 11 [on

reserve].

Smith, Tom W. 2007. “Codes of Ethics and Standards in Survey Research.” In The Sage Handbook



CIHR, NSERC, SSHRC. 2014. Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research

Involving Humans. [www.pre.ethics.gc.ca/pdf/eng/tcps2-2014/TCPS_2_FINAL_Web.pdf]

Langer, Gary. 2009. “Nondisclosure Cited in Iraq Casualties Study.” ABC News.

[abcnews.go.com/PollingUnit/story?id=6799754]

Bhattacharjee, Yudhijit. 2013. “The Mind of a Con Man.” New York Times Magazine.

[www.nytimes.com/2013/04/28/magazine/diederik-stapels-audacious-academic-fraud.html]

Singal, Jesse. 2015. “The Case of the Amazing Gay-Marriage Data: How a Graduate Student

Reluctantly Uncovered a Huge Scientific Fraud.” New York Magazine.

[nymag.com/scienceofus/2015/05/how-a-grad-student-uncovered-a-huge-fraud.html]

Further reading

American Association for Public Opinion Research. 2015. AAPOR Code of Professional Ethics

and Practices.

[www.aapor.org/AAPORKentico/Standards-Ethics/AAPOR-Code-of-Ethics.aspx]

Marketing Research and Intelligence Association. 2015. MRIA Code of Conduct for Market and

Social Research.

[mria-arim.ca/sites/default/uploads/files/MRIA-ESOMAR-CODE-Introduction-R2.pdf]

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February 20–24: Reading week; no class

8. March 1: Group Presentations

Part III: Current Topics in Public Opinion and Political Behaviour

9. March 8: Personality and Political Behaviour

Required reading

Mondak, Jeffrey and Matthew V. Hibbing. 2012. “Personality and Public Opinion.” In New

Directions in Public Opinion, edited by Adam J. Berinsky, 217–238. New York: Routledge.

Gerber, Alan S., Gregory A. Huber, David Doherty, and Conor M. Dowling. 2011. “The Big Five

Personality Traits in the Political Arena.” Annual Review of Political Science 14: 265–87.

Mondak, Jeffery J., Matthew V. Hibbing, Damarys Canache, Mitchell A. Seligson, and Mary R.

Anderson. 2010. “Personality and Civic Engagement: An Integrative Framework for the

Study of Trait Effects on Political Behavior.” American Political Science Review 104(1): 85–110.

Hirsh, Jacob B., Colin G. DeYoung, Xiaowen Xu, and Jordan B. Peterson. 2010. “Compassionate

Liberals and Polite Conservatives: Associations of Agreeableness With Political Ideology

and Moral Values.” Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 36(5) 655–664.

Dawes, Christopher T., Jaime E. Settle, Peter John Loewen, Matt McGue, William G. Iacono.

2015. “Genes, Psychological Traits and Civic Engagement.” Philosophical Transactions of the

Royal Society: B – Biological Sciences 370(1683): 20150015.


Kline, Paul 1994. An Easy Guide to Factor Analysis. London: Routledge. Ch. 1.

Further reading

Caprara, Gian Vittorio, Claudio Barbaranelli, and Philip G. Zimbardo. 1999. “Personality

Profiles and Political Parties.” Political Psychology 20(1): 175–97.

Gerber, Alan S., Gregory A. Huber, David Doherty, and Conor M. Dowling. 2011. “Personality

Traits and the Consumption of Political Information.” American Politics Research 39(1): 32–84.

Gerber, Alan S., Gregory A. Huber, David Doherty, and Conor M. Dowling. 2012.

“Disagreement and the Avoidance of Political Discussion: Aggregate Relationships and

Differences across Personality Traits.” American Journal of Political Science 56(4): 849–74.

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Mondak, Jeffery J. 2010. Personality and the Foundations of Political Behavior. Cambridge

University Press.

Mondak, Jeffery J., and Karen D. Halperin. 2008. “A Framework for the Study of Personality

and Political Behaviour.” British Journal of Political Science 38(2): 335–62.

Mondak, Jeffery J., Damarys Canache, Mitchell A. Seligson, and Matthew V. Hibbing. 2010.

“The Participatory Personality: Evidence from Latin America.” British Journal of Political

Science 41(1): 211–21.

Schoen, Harald, and Siegfried Schumann. 2007. “Personality Traits, Partisan Attitudes, and

Voting Behavior: Evidence from Germany.” Political Psychology 28(4): 471–98.

Winter, David G. 2003. “Personality and Political Behavior.” In The Oxford Handbook of Political

Psychology, edited by David O. Sears, Leonie Huddy, and Robert Jervis, 110–45. New York,

NY: Oxford University Press.

10. March 15: Public Opinion and Immigration

Required reading

Schildkraut, Deborah J. “Ambivalence in American Public Opinion about Immigration.” In New

Directions in Public Opinion, 2nd ed., edited by Adam J. Berinsky, 278–298. New York:

Routledge.

Hainmueller, Jens, and Daniel J. Hopkins. 2014. “Public Attitudes Toward Immigration.”

Annual Review of Political Science 17: 225–49.

Gravelle, Timothy B. 2016. “Party Identification, Contact, Contexts, and Public Attitudes toward

Illegal Immigration.” Public Opinion Quarterly 80(1): 1–25.

Bilodeau, Antoine, Luc Turgeon, and Ekrem Karakoç. 2012. “Small Worlds of Diversity: Views

toward Immigration and Racial Minorities in Canadian Provinces.” Canadian Journal of

Political Science 45(3): 579–605.

Breton, Charles. 2015. “Making National Identity Salient: Impact on Attitudes toward

Immigration and Multiculturalism.” Canadian Journal of Political Science 48(2): 357–81.

Further reading

Enos, Ryan D. 2014. “Causal Effect of Intergroup Contact on Exclusionary Attitudes.”

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 111(10): 3699–3704.

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Goldstein, Judith L., and Margaret E. Peters. 2014. “Nativism or Economic Threat: Attitudes

Toward Immigrants During the Great Recession.” International Interactions 40(3): 376–401.

Hainmueller, Jens, and Michael J. Hiscox. 2007. “Educated Preferences: Explaining Attitudes

Toward Immigration in Europe.” International Organization 61(2): 399–442.

Harell, Allison, Stuart N. Soroka, Shanto Iyengar, and Nicholas A. Valentino. 2012. “The Impact

of Economic and Cultural Cues on Support for Immigration in Canada and the United

States.” Canadian Journal of Political Science 45(3): 499–530.

Hood, M. V. 2000. “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? Racial/Ethnic Context and the Anglo Vote

on Proposition 187.” Social Science Quarterly 81(1): 194–206.

Hopkins, Daniel J. 2010. “Politicized Places: Explaining Where and When Immigrants Provoke

Local Opposition.” American Political Science Review 104(1): 40–60.

Hopkins, Daniel J., Van C. Tran, and Abigail Fisher Williamson. 2014. “See No Spanish:

Language, Local Context, and Attitudes Toward Immigration.” Politics, Groups, and Identities

2(1): 35–51.

Kaufmann, Eric, and Gareth Harris. 2015. “‘White Flight’ or Positive Contact ? Local Diversity

and Attitudes to Immigration in Britain.” Comparative Political Studies 48(12): 1563–90.

McLaren, Lauren M. 2003. “Anti-Immigrant Prejudice in Europe: Contact, Threat Perception,

and Preferences for the Exclusion of Migrants.” Social Forces 81(3): 909–36.

Newman, Benjamin J. 2013. “Acculturating Contexts and Anglo Opposition to Immigration in

the United States.” American Journal of Political Science 57(2): 374–90.

Newman, Benjamin J. 2015. “Unfamiliar Others: Contact with Unassimilated Immigrants and

Public Support for Restrictive Immigration Policy.” International Journal of Public Opinion

Research 27(2): 197–219.

Newman, Benjamin J., and Yamil Velez. 2014. “Group Size versus Change? Assessing

Americans’ Perception of Local Immigration.” Political Research Quarterly 67(2): 293–303.

Palmer, Douglas L. 1996. “Determinants of Canadian Attitudes toward Immigration: More than

Just Racism?” Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science 28(3): 180–92.

Page 18 of 20

11. March 22: Public Opinion and Foreign Policy

Required reading

Wittkopf, Eugene R., and Michael A. Maggiotto. 1982. “The Two Faces of Internationalism:

Public Attitudes toward American Foreign Policy in the 1970s – and Beyond?” Social Science

Quarterly 64(2): 288–304.

Munton, Don, and Tom Keating. 2001. “Internationalism and the Canadian Public.” Canadian

Journal of Political Science 34(3): 517–49.

Gravelle, Timothy B., Jason Reifler, and Thomas J. Scotto. 2016. “The Structure of Foreign Policy

Attitudes in Transatlantic Perspective: Comparing the United States, United Kingdom,

France and Germany.” Manuscript.

Gelpi, Christopher, Jason Reifler, and Peter D. Feaver. 2007. “Iraq the Vote: Retrospective and

Prospective Foreign Policy Judgments on Candidate Choice and Casualty Tolerance.”

Political Behavior 29(2): 151–74.

Gravelle, Timothy B., Thomas J. Scotto, Jason Reifler, and Harold D. Clarke. 2014. “Foreign

Policy Beliefs and Support for Stephen Harper and the Conservative Party.” Canadian

Foreign Policy Journal 20(2): 111–30.

Further reading

Aldrich, John H., Christopher Gelpi, Peter D. Feaver, Jason Reifler, and Kristin Thompson

Sharp. 2006. “Foreign Policy and the Electoral Connection.” Annual Review of Political Science

9: 477–502.

Berinsky, Adam J. In Time of War: Understanding American Public Opinion from World War II to

Iraq. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

Chittick, William O., Keith R. Billingsley, and Rick Travis. 1995. “A Three-Dimensional Model

of American Foreign Policy Beliefs.” International Studies Quarterly 39(3): 313–31.

Fitzsimmons, Scott, Allan Craigie, and Marc André Bodet. 2014. “Canadian Public Opinion

about the Military: Assessing the Influences on Attitudes toward Defence Spending and

Participation in Overseas Combat Operations.” Canadian Journal of Political Science 47(3):

503–18.

Page 19 of 20

Gelpi, Christopher, Peter D. Feaver, and Jason Reifler. 2005. “Success Matters: Casualty

Sensitivity and the War in Iraq.” International Security 30(3): 7–46.

Gelpi, Christopher, Peter D. Feaver, and Jason Reifler. 2009. Paying the Human Costs of War:

American Public Opinion and Casualties in Military Conflicts. Princeton, NJ: Princeton

University Press.

Holsti, Ole R. 2004. Public Opinion and American Foreign Policy. Rev. ed. Ann Arbor, MI:

University of Michigan Press.

Hurwitz, Jon, and Mark A. Peffley. 1987. “How Are Foreign Policy Attitudes Structured? A

Hierarchical Model.” American Political Science Review 81(4): 1099–1120.

Kertzer, Joshua D. 2013. “Making Sense of Isolationism: Foreign Policy Mood as a Multilevel

Phenomenon.” Journal of Politics 75(01): 225–40.

Noël, Alain, Jean-Philippe Thérien, and Sébastien Dallaire. 2004. “Divided Over

Internationalism: The Canadian Public and Development Assistance.” Canadian Public Policy

30(1): 29–46.

Rathbun, Brian C. 2007. “Hierarchy and Community and Foreign Policy Beliefs in American

Elites.” Journal of Conflict Resolution 51(3): 379–407.

Reifler, Jason, Thomas J. Scotto, and Harold D. Clarke. 2011. “Foreign Policy Beliefs in

Contemporary Britain: Structure and Relevance.” International Studies Quarterly 55(1): 245–

66.

Wittkopf, Eugene R. 1990. Faces of Internationalism: Public Opinion and American Foreign Policy.

Durham, NC: Duke University Press.

Page 20 of 20

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