Public Opinion
Graduate course examining classic and modern research on public opinion, its methodologies, and its role in democracies.
Summary
Recent recorded grades — Fall 2009: 3.58 GPA, 66.7% A/AB (n=6 letter grades); Spring 2012: 3.67 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=6 letter grades).
What you’ll be able to do
Identify and differentiate various conceptualizations of public opinion.
Summarize major past research findings and debates about the role of public opinion in contemporary democracy, particularly in the United States. In particular, summarize and differentiate findings with respect to what explains why people express the perspectives and preferences that they do about public affairs.
Identify and analyze different approaches to studying public opinion in contemporary social science literature.
Identify questions related to public opinion that are in need of research to make significant contributions to our understanding of the nature, origins, and effects of public opinion.
Source: UW Guide
Grade history
↗All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors
Prerequisites
Course mapGraduate/professional standing
- Graduate/professional standing
This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.
Prerequisite text tree
- Graduate/professional standing
Professors
Spring 2027No instructors recorded for this selection.
Historical instructors & teaching patterns
Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
Calendar & sections
Spring 2027Schedule loads here as you scroll.
| Section | Mode | Enrolled / capacity | Waitlist |
|---|
Times are Central. Select a meeting for details; export includes recorded dates for the selected sections.
Meeting source records
No records available.
Student experience
the class
Recent recorded grades — Fall 2009: 3.58 GPA, 66.7% A/AB (n=6 letter grades); Spring 2012: 3.67 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=6 letter grades).
difficulty & workload
No workload feedback recorded.
Topics
- Research and methodologies for studying public opinion
- Role of public opinion in democracies
- Explanations for public perspectives and preferences on public affairs
Skills
- Differentiate conceptualizations of public opinion
- Summarize research findings on public opinion in democracy
- Analyze methodological approaches to studying public opinion
- Identify open research questions in public opinion studies
Grades
Latest available · Spring 2012— not enough history to project Spring 2027.
Grade distribution · % of letter grades
Grades over time
Through Spring 2012
More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data
Not enough comparable courses for Spring 2027 in UW–Madison.
Sources & history
Catalog & offerings
Descriptions, prerequisites, and recorded course offerings.
Catalog observation history
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Selected offering source records
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Raw records
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Student reviews
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Read original reviews
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Grade history
Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.
Explore recorded gradesRecorded 2026-10-14
Model outputs & technical records
LLM outputs across runs
Full model traces
Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.
Model & dataset provenance
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