Public Opinion

Public opinion is the aggregate of individual attitudes or beliefs held by the adult population.
It
can be influenced by public relations and the political media. Additionally, the mass media
utilizes a wide variety of advertising techniques to change the minds of people. A continuously
used technique is propaganda. Public opinion is frequently measured using opinion polls that
use the statistical method of survey sampling, which can still run the risk of bias. The results of
opinion polls have themselves been found to influence public opinion, particularly with regard to
political elections during which time the tide of public opinion becomes increasingly crucial. The
formation of public opinion is considered of great importance in a free society, since there is an
implicit assumption that the actions of the public will be guided by their opinions. Those in
positions of authority invest considerable resources in efforts to sway public opinion in their
favor, with results that may or may not prove beneficial to society as a whole.
Introduction
The English term public opinion dates from the eighteenth century and derives from the French
l’opinion publique, first used by Montaigne two centuries earlier in 1588. "Public opinion"
developed as a concept with the rise of a "public" in the eighteenth century. This came about
through urbanization and other political and social forces.
Using the conceptional tools of his theory of Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft, the German
sociologist Ferdinand Tönnies argued that "public opinion" has the equivalent social functions in
societies (Gesellschaften) that religion has in communities (Gemeinschaften)
American sociologist Herbert Blumer proposed a somewhat different conception of the "public,"
as a form of collective behavior which is made up of those who are discussing a given public
issue at any one time. Given this definition, there are many publics; each of them comes into
being when an issue arises and ceases to exist when the issue is resolved. Blumer claimed that
since people participate in a public to different degrees, public opinion polling cannot measure
the public: an archbishop's participation is more important than that of a homeless or
unemployed person. The "mass," in which people independently make decisions about, for
example, which brand of toothpaste to buy, is a form of collective behavior different from the
public.
What influences public opinion

Public opinion is a strange, fickle creature. Many things influence the constitution of public
thought, sometimes seemingly at random. The mass media, word of mouth, economy, sense of
community, advertising, and propaganda all have some effect on public opinion.
Formation of public opinion

The mass media plays a crucial role in forming and reflecting public opinion: it
communicates the world to individuals, and it reproduces modern society's self-image.
Critiques in the early-to-mid-twentieth century suggested that the media destroys the
individual's capacity to act autonomously - sometimes being ascribed an influence
reminiscent of the telescreens of the dystopian novel by George Orwell 1984. Later studies,
however, suggested a more complex interaction between the media and society, with
individuals actively interpreting and evaluating the media and the information it provides.
Advertising and propaganda are two forms of altering opinion through the mass media.
Advertising is a more overt method of doing so by promoting the strengths of certain
products or ideas (be it for retail products, services, or campaign ideas). Propaganda is
covert in its actions but also serves to subtly influence opinion. Propaganda is traditionally
used more for political purposes while advertising has been used for commercial purposes.
People are not entirely immersed in mass media, however. Local communication still plays
a large role in determining public opinion. People are affected by the opinions of those with
whom they work, attend religious services, friends, family, and other smaller scale
interpersonal interactions. Other factors of the formation of public opinion include the
economy, the state of which has a great effect on people's happiness; popular culture,
which can be dictated by the mass media, but can also develop as small social movements;
and massive global events such as the terrorist attacks of September 11th, which shifted
public opinion drastically.
Opinion Leader
An opinion leader is a well-known individual or organization that has the ability to influence public
opinion on the subject matter for which the opinion leader is known. Opinion leaders can be
politicians, business leaders, community leaders, journalists, educators, celebrities, and sports stars.
Paul Lazarsfeld argued that the public forms its opinion in a two-stage process. He thought most
people rely on opinion leaders. These opinion leaders are affected by world events and then
pass opinions down to less active members of society. Lazarsfeld believed that the mass media
was the main source of information for opinion leaders, but his theory may have missed the
tremendous impact the mass media has over every citizen, not just a select few. Most people
gather all of their information regarding current events from some outlet of the mass media be it
large newspapers, television news, or the internet. The information these people retain is largely
colored by the opinions of those presenting them. As a result, many people take on the opinions
of their news presenters (although one could also argue that they gravitate to those broadcast
outlets because of similar shared opinions).
Characteristics of opinion leader

Public Opinion

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Public opinion is the aggregate of individual attitudes or beliefs held by the adult population.

What influences public opinion

Formation of public opinion

Characteristics of opinion leader

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