Public Opinion

 

Scientific communication is a relatively new field of study from the 20^th century that coincided with the newfound media in the 1950’s (television, radio, etc.) and the concept of persuasion in mind.[i] Defining terms in the field of communication may result to different variations of definitions; terms such as, public opinion. Public opinion can be defined as: what poll questions measure, the opinion people are willing to express publicly, or the opinion that people are willing to act on. I argue that the best definition to define public opinion is the opinion people are willing to express because it allows flexibility to portray public opinion as a means of verbal expression, physical expression by individual participation so that investigators can later measure, and the mental processing in which individuals formulate their opinion. In other words, this definition allows the opportunity to sum up the other following definitions by also not limiting the term by specifying an individual’s concrete participation or as means of measurement. In this paper, I will review the following definitions and further explain my declared argument.

Public Opinion Defined as Measurement

            For instance, to define public opinion as what poll questions measure provides an estimated idea of what the public is concerned about, determining what policies that the public considers high priority, an understanding of what percentage of the public that supports a particular political actor, and which political actor pulls the least amount of support from the public.[DS1]  However, this definition limits the term ‘public opinion’ to those who can participate in survey research conducted by investigators when public opinion is far broader than that. Not to mention the measurement errors that can make measuring public opinion difficult. [DS2] It can be difficult to contact individuals depending on their economic status (if some individuals do not have access to telephones or other streams of communication such as email). Some individuals are unwilling to participate or are difficult to motivate to participate in survey research. Although poll questions are a great tool to measure public opinion, I believe this definition is too restrictive to define public opinion because it does not consider the public opinion of those unable to participate.

Public Opinion as What People Are Willing to Express or Act On

Furthermore, as Anthony Downs questioned what motivates citizens to acquire political knowledge, he had concluded that everything has an opportunity cost, which asks if what you are doing right now outweighs what you could’ve been doing.[ii]Although Downs was concerned about political knowledge, I believe his ideology can still be applied in an individuals’ actions of physical participation. Defining public opinion as what individuals are willing to express or act on hold two different perceptions and it is necessary to be careful of how public opinion is defined. Wording such as, ‘act on’ implies physical participation by either protesting, marching, voting, and a variety of other means of concrete acts to express an opinion that an individual is willing to act on. Defining public opinion as a means of ‘acting on something’ is beneficial to determine a size of the public that is passionate enough to consider the opportunity cost of participation outweighing either the busy schedule of an everyday citizen or even simply outweighs the opportunity of leisure activity.[DS3]  However, I believe this definition is also restrictive on defining public opinion because it does not consider individuals who have an opinion but are unable to go to the lengths of participating in any action to express said opinion. That said, I believe that the best way to define public opinion is as what people are willing to express because this phraseology allows flexibility to consider the many individuals who formulate an opinion without participating in a survey or by ‘acting on’ their opinion. [DS4] It is important to note that defining public opinion as what people are willing to express publicly suggests that an individual must vocalize their opinion. Although this definition is the most flexible, it does not consider the individuals who are uncomfortable to express their opinion.[DS5]  It is possible for an individual to mentally construct an opinion without vocalizing said opinion. The pluralistic ignorance may attribute to a mental block of expression.

The Impact of Public Opinion

            All things considered; each definition importantly conveys public opinion in different ways. Defining public opinion as what poll questions measure is a helpful way of understanding a size of the population statistically to later translate for researchers to understand the preferences of the public. Defining public opinion as what people are willing to act on gives an understanding of the public that is passionate enough to act on their opinion in order to support their opinion. Lastly, defining public opinion as what people are willing to express gives an overall understanding of the attitudes and beliefs of the public in the variety of ways of expressing their opinion. In conclusion, it is important to express an opinion because it creates a conversation that can lead to an impactful resolution.

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[i] Edy, Jill A. Personal communication, 10/18/21

[ii] Edy, Jill A. Personal communication, 11/2/21

References 

Edy, Jill A. (2021, October 18). Public Opinion as Group Behavior [Lecture recording]. The University of Oklahoma.

Edy, Jill A. (2021, November 2). Public Knowledge and Misperceptions [Lecture recording]. The University of Oklahoma.