17.5.4 Opinion polls Opinion polls are mostly conducted by phoning people and asking them a series of questions. While conducting their surveys, polling companies often ask the people being surveyed their age and level of income to include a large range of people. Businesses can hire different polling companies to conduct surveys to find out whether a particular advertising campaign has been effective. Businesses can also conduct surveys on people’s attitudes to government policies and actions. To achieve this, they will survey people to find out whether they support or oppose a proposed law or other government action. When an election is close, they will also conduct surveys to find out who people intend to vote for. 17.5.5 Paying for your vote There are many ways in which governments and political parties can attempt to influence voters’ decisions. These include: • paid advertising on billboards, in traditional media and online • using political consulting firms and public relations experts to tell members the ‘right’ things to say to their audience • paying for focus and interest groups who may have a biased opinion • launching political campaigns which may include all of the above and target audiences for a set period of time, usually in the run-up to an election.
17.5 SkillBuilder activity INVESTIGATING CONTEMPORARY CIVICS AND CITIZENSHIP ISSUES 1. Look at the images below. Based on what you see, explain what is the issue being discussed.
2. The image on the left was taken from an article referring to the dissemination of ‘fake news’ in the Taiwanese media. The fake news was designed to disrupt the election of a politician in favour of same-sex marriage. Discuss whether you have encountered fake news online. Explain where, and what made you believe it was fake. 3. Social media has an important role to play in modern politics. Identify the steps that you can take to evaluate a source of information and ensure its credibility.
516 Jacaranda Humanities Alive 8 Victorian Curriculum Third Edition
Made with FlippingBook interactive PDF creator