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Processes of Opinion Change
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Behavioral Decision MakingSocial PsychologyPublic OpinionSocial InfluenceCommunicationOpinion ChangePsychologySocial SciencesAttitude TheoryDevelopmental PsychologyMedia EffectsPolitical CommunicationMajority InfluencePublic Opinion DataBehavioral SciencesApplied Social PsychologyAttitude ChangeOpinion AssessmentSocial CognitionPublic Perception StudiesSocial BehaviorPolitical AttitudesSocial JudgmentArtsAttitude DynamicPersuasionOpinion Aggregation
Public opinion analysis faces challenges in interpreting observed distributions and trends, as refined methods still lack direct insight into the meaning of opinions and require inference, and social influence—especially in child socialization—remains a key concern. The study aims to refine opinion assessment techniques to yield more detailed information about public opinions.
A persistent concern in the analysis of public opinion data is the that one can ascribe to the observed distributions and trends—and to the positions taken by particular individuals and segments of the population. In a certain sense, the need for more detailed information about opinions be met by improvements and refinements in the methodology of opinion assessment. But, no matter how refined the techniques, they do not provide direct information about the meaning of the opinions and do not permit automatic predictions to subsequent behavior: the investigator still has to make inferences from the data. Social influence has been a central area of concern for experimental social psychology almost since its beginnings. It can also be observed, for example, in the context of socialization of children, where the taking over of parental attitudes and actions is a normal, and probably essential, part of personality development.