Question 8 of my final exam for Design and Analysis of Sample Surveys

8. Which of the following statements accurately characterize the National Election Studies? (Indicate all that apply.)

(a) The NES began in 1960.

(b) Since 1980, the NES has mostly relied on telephone interviews.

(c) The NES typically has a sample size of about 1000–2000 people.

(d) The NES uses a sampling design that ensures they get respondents from all fifty states and D.C.

Solution to question 7

From yesterday:

7. Which of the following statements accurately summarize claims made by Page and Shapiro in The Rational Public and their associated research articles? (Indicate all that apply.)

(a) Americans’ attitudes on policy alternatives are highly unstable over time, reflecting a rational response to unstable political conditions.

(b) When studying public opinion, question-wording is less important than scholars have traditionally thought.

(c) Attitudes about foreign policy change more abruptly than attitudes on domestic issues.

(d) The contents of the mass media account for a high proportion of opinion changes on foreign policy.

(e) Using the assumption of rationality, Page and Shapiro fit a hedonic regression to estimate the underlying utility function of survey respondents.

(f) Page and Shapiro use the term “rational” ironically; their fundamental claim is that Americans are easily distracted and that rational-public models are seriously flawed.

Solutio: c and d. But you can make arguments for a and b. No way on e or f.

2 thoughts on “Question 8 of my final exam for Design and Analysis of Sample Surveys

  1. Re: Question 7. Since I had no knowledge whatsoever over what is in “The Rational Public”, I thought about answering that question anyway, to see whether I could “game” the test (be able to get the right answer by knowing what answer the test-giver wanted). It’s a good thing I didn’t bother, as I was SURE the one of the answers had to be F.

  2. Pingback: Question 9 of my final exam for Design and Analysis of Sample Surveys « Statistical Modeling, Causal Inference, and Social Science

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