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Conducting Empirical Analysis
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Conducting Empirical Analysis
Public Opinion in Action

First Edition
December 2010 | 192 pages | CQ Press
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Conducting Empirical Analysis is an ideal way to marry substance with skills, getting students to experience the joy of discovery firsthand. Through straightforward instruction and guided examples, Clawson and Oxley show students how to conduct web-based data analysis using UC Berkeley’s Survey Documentation and Analysis (available online for free) to answer questions about party identification or attitude stability, and to measure racial prejudice and political knowledge. Exercises cover a range of data collection techniques, survey research, and statistical analyses, ramping up from multiple-choice and open-ended questions to mini-research projects. An instructor’s guide with solutions is available for adopters.

 
Tables and Figures
 
Preface
 
Introduction to Conducting Empirical Analysis
Using SDA Web-based Software

 
Conclusion and Looking Ahead

 
 
Political Socialization
Parental Socialization

 
Adult Socialization

 
For Further Exploration: Life Cycle Effects

 
Mini-Research Project

 
 
Mass Media
Where Do Citizens Get Their News?

 
Newspaper Readership

 
For Further Exploration: Evaluations of the News Media

 
Mini-Research Project

 
 
Attitude Stability and Attitude Change
Attitude Change, Partisanship, and Exposure to Newspapers

 
Collective Public Opinion: Attitude Stability or Attitude Change?

 
For Further Exploration: Issue Attitude Stability or Change?

 
Mini-Research Project

 
 
Political Ideology
Citizen Ideology

 
Sex Differences in Ideology

 
Ideology and Government Spending

 
For Further Exploration: More on Ideology and Issue Positions

 
Mini-Research Project

 
 
Pluralistic Roots of Public Opinion
Self-Interest

 
Racial Attitudes

 
For Further Exploration: Racial Prejudice Over Time

 
For Further Exploration: Race and Racial Prejudice

 
Mini-Research Project

 
 
Political Knowledge
Measuring Political Knowledge

 
Political Knowledge and Gender

 
Political Knowledge and Age

 
Political Knowledge and Education

 
For Further Exploration: Examining Political Knowledge

 
Mini-Research Project

 
 
Support for Civil Liberties
Public Support for Free Expression

 
Contextual Effects on Tolerance

 
For Further Exploration: GSS Tolerance Measures

 
Mini-Research Project

 
 
Support for Civil Rights
Attitudes toward Interracial Marriage

 
Attitudes toward Gay Marriage

 
For Further Exploration: Ideology and Attitudes toward Gay Marriage

 
For Further Exploration: Examining Attitudes toward Gay Marriage

 
Mini-Research Project

 
 
Trust in Government and Social Capital
Trust in Government

 
Social Capital

 
For Further Exploration: Measures of Political Trust

 
Mini-Research Project

 
 
Impact of Public Opinion on Policy
Income Variation in Policy Opinions

 
Appealing to the Public

 
Mini-Research Projects

 
 
Public Opinion and the 2008 Election
Race, Gender, and Candidate Evaluation

 
Racial Resentment and the Vote

 
For Further Exploration: The Iraq War and the Vote

 
Mini-Research Project

 
 
Reference Appendix
The SDA Archive

 
The SDA Main Page

 
Statistical Analysis Techniques and SDA Features

 

This practice book accompanying a handbook by Clawson & Oxley is potentially useful for courses of at least one semester long, in my view. As much as I tried to make it part of my course for undergraduates, I found that many exercises in the book required good knowledge of the US political context and/or good command of English, which would be a bit of an extra for international students having their introductory course on public opinion. However, one can never know; I might consider it again next year.

Dr Anna Shirokanova
Faculty of Sociology, State Univ -Higher School of Economics
August 31, 2015
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