Abstract
In 1984 the University of Chicago Press published Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann’s book on the Spiral of Silence Theory. In brief this theory states that people who believe that their opinions deviate from those of the general public keep silent. By not expressing their views they reinforce the impression that there is a predominant opinion. This is especially true when the respondents believe that the climate of opinion is developing even further away from their own opinions. In this chapter we shall describe some experiments which were designed to assess the influence of the wording of questions and response categories relating to a climate of opinion.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
BISHOP, G. F., OLDENDICK, R. W. and TUCHFARBER, A. J., ‘Effects of Filter Questions in Public Opinion Surveys’, Public Opinion Quarterly, 47 (1983) 528–46.
ECKHARDT, K. W. and HENDERSHOT, G., ‘Dissonance-Congruence and the Perception of Public Opinion’, American Journal of Sociology, 73:2 (1967) 226–34.
FIELDS, J. M. and SCHUMAN, H., ‘Public Beliefs about the Beliefs of the Public’, Public Opinion Quarterly, 40 (1976) 427–48.
‘T HART, H., ‘People’s Perceptions of Public Opinions’, paper presented at the Fourth Annual Scientific Meeting of the International Society of Political Psychology (Mannheim, June 1981).
KISH, L., Survey Sampling (New York: Wiley, 1965).
MEILOF-OONK, S., Meningen over Homosexualiteit (Opinions about Homosexuality), I. (’s-Gravenhage [The Hague]: Staatsuitgeverij, 1969).
NOELLE-NEUMANN, E., Öffentliche Meinung’. Unsere Soziale Haut (Frankfurt-am-Main: Ullstein, 1982).
—— Public Opinion:. Our Social Skin (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1982).
SCHUMAN, H. and PRESSER, S., Questions and Answers in Attitude Surveys (New York: Academic Press, 1981).
TAYLOR, D. G., ‘Pluralistic Ignorance and the Spiral of Silence: a formal analysis’, Public Opinion Quarterly, 46, (1982) 311–35.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 1988 Willem E. Saris and Irmtraud N. Gallhofer
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Hart, H.’., Vorst, T. (1988). Noises from the Spiral of Silence: Measurement Errors in Variables, Related to the Assessment of Other People’s Opinions. In: Saris, W.E., Gallhofer, I.N. (eds) Sociometric Research. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-19051-5_1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-19051-5_1
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-19053-9
Online ISBN: 978-1-349-19051-5
eBook Packages: Palgrave Social & Cultural Studies CollectionSocial Sciences (R0)