Polling the Attentive Public

1 March 1984

journal article
research article
Published by SAGE Publications in The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science

Vol. 472 (1) , 143-154
https://doi.org/10.1177/0002716284472001013

Abstract

Public opinion as reported by polls can be misleading when it concerns issues about which the general public knows or cares little. On such issues the views of those most interested or involved deserve special attention. Survey data show that those who follow the news about a particular issue or issue area very closely—the “attentive public”—differ in personal characteristics and often in their opinions from both the general public and from the best-educated. Further, opinions of the attentive public are often better informed and more predictive of policy trends than are the views of the general public. By reporting attentive public opinion separately, pollsters can encourage policy makers to pay greater attention to it.

Keywords

This publication has 1 reference indexed in Scilit:

The Polls and Other Mechanisms of Democracy
Public Opinion Quarterly, 1940