Doctoral Dissertation Research in Political Science: Political Information and the Dynamics of Public Opinion

政治学博士论文研究：政治信息与舆论动态

• 批准号: 1160156
• 负责人: James Druckman
• 金额: $ 1.2万
• 依托单位: Northwestern University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2012-04-01 至 2013-03-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1160156&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Political; Science

Public opinion is integral to the political process; without a thorough understanding of the public's views, representation by policymakers is meaningless. It is insufficient, however, to think that opinions emerge spontaneously; opinions instead reflect the information available to the public - much of which comes from political elites (politicians, candidates, pundits, etc.) via mass media. We must understand why and how individuals develop particular opinions in order for policymakers, politicians, and the media to act cognizant of their influence over the public whose opinions they must also represent. How exactly are those opinions influenced by the choices that individuals make among various alternative sources and types of politically relevant information? In the 21st century political landscape, these alternatives are numerous, diverse, and readily accessible -- especially on the internet, where individuals are free to select and avoid whatever information they so choose. Past research has not demonstrated how choices made within this complex political environment shape political opinions over time.This project aims to explain how people form and update political opinions. Specifically, it examines how opinions are shaped over time by the information people acquire from the broader political environment. The dissertation involves experimental methods that manipulate information, psychological dispositions, and features of the political environment in order to understand how these variations lead to different opinions toward policy issues. By designing studies that mimic contemporary politics, this research will explain how people form their opinions given much of what they observe about politics results from their choices of where and how to look for information.This research will yield a deeper understanding of the causes and effects of peoples' information choices (i.e., the information they actively or passively acquire) and their preferences over policy alternatives. The findings from the project will further public and journalistic understanding of an ever-more-polarized and divisive political landscape, where individuals are free to choose from a diverse array of information alternatives on cable television and the internet. Whether the information choices citizens make, and the information available from mass media, polarize the political process is a vital concern to any democracy. Findings regarding the interplay between information and opinion will contribute to critical, informed discussion of the role of political media in contemporary politics.

公众舆论是政治进程不可或缺的一部分;如果不彻底了解公众的观点，决策者的代表性就毫无意义。然而，认为意见是自发产生的是不够的;相反，意见反映了公众可以获得的信息-其中大部分来自政治精英（政治家，候选人，专家等）。通过大众媒体。我们必须了解个人为什么以及如何形成特定的观点，以便政策制定者、政治家和媒体认识到他们对公众的影响，他们也必须代表公众的观点。这些观点究竟是如何受到个人在各种替代来源和政治相关信息类型中所做选择的影响的？在世纪的政治格局中，这些选择是众多的，多样的，而且很容易获得-特别是在互联网上，个人可以自由选择和避免他们选择的任何信息。过去的研究并没有证明在这个复杂的政治环境中所做的选择如何随着时间的推移而塑造政治观点。本项目旨在解释人们如何形成和更新政治观点。具体来说，它研究了人们从更广泛的政治环境中获得的信息如何随着时间的推移而形成观点。本论文涉及操纵信息、心理倾向和政治环境特征的实验方法，以了解这些变化如何导致对政策问题的不同意见。通过设计模仿当代政治的研究，这项研究将解释人们如何形成他们的意见，因为他们对政治的观察结果很大程度上来自于他们对在哪里和如何寻找信息的选择。这项研究将加深人们对信息选择的原因和影响的理解（即，他们主动或被动获取的信息）以及他们对政策替代方案的偏好。该项目的调查结果将进一步加深公众和新闻界对日益两极分化和分裂的政治格局的理解，在这种政治格局中，个人可以自由地从有线电视和互联网上的各种信息选择中进行选择。公民所作的信息选择以及从大众媒体获得的信息是否会影响政治进程，是任何民主国家都极为关注的问题。关于信息和意见之间的相互作用的调查结果将有助于关键的，知情的政治媒体在当代政治中的作用的讨论。