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News tagged with opinion

Minority rules: Scientists discover tipping point for the spread of ideas

Scientists at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have found that when just 10 percent of the population holds an unshakable belief, their belief will always be adopted by the majority of the society. The scientists, ...

Other Sciences / Social Sciences

created Jul 25, 2011 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (35) | comments 49 | with audio podcast

A rare survey of the one percent

(PhysOrg.com) -- Though little reliable survey research exists about the nation’s wealthiest one percent, public discourse is rife with claims about their opinions and attitudes. Now a Northwestern University pilot study ...

Other Sciences / Social Sciences

created Dec 06, 2011 | popularity 4.2 / 5 (29) | comments 179 | with audio podcast

Low incomes make poor more conservative, study finds

You might think that in a time when more money is concentrated in fewer hands and incomes vary wildly from billions to subsistence, poor people might increase their support for government policies that offer some help.

Other Sciences / Social Sciences

created Nov 16, 2010 | popularity 3.9 / 5 (23) | comments 486 | with audio podcast

Analysis of Polling Data Finds Growing Support for Same-Sex Marriage

(PhysOrg.com) -- According to a comprehensive new analysis of public opinion surveys conducted over the last 15 years, support for the legalization of same-sex marriage has grown substantially in the United ...

Other Sciences / Social Sciences

created Jul 28, 2009 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (14) | comments 13

Americans move dramatically toward acceptance of homosexuality

Although sharply divided, public attitudes toward gays and lesbians are rapidly changing to reflect greater acceptance, with younger generations leading the way, research by NORC at the University of Chicago ...

Other Sciences / Social Sciences

created Sep 28, 2011 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (9) | comments 39

Political leaders play key role in how worried Americans are by climate change: study

More than extreme weather events and the work of scientists, it is national political leaders who influence how much Americans worry about the threat of climate change, new research finds.

Space & Earth / Environment

created Feb 06, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (8) | comments 175

New study finds elite viewpoints dominate online content

(PhysOrg.com) -- Anyone with Internet access can generate online content and influence public opinion, according to popular belief. But a new study from the University of California, Berkeley, suggests that ...

Other Sciences / Social Sciences

created Jun 08, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (5) | comments 0

Study highlights flaw in common approach of public opinion surveys about science

A new study from North Carolina State University highlights a major flaw in attempting to use a single survey question to assess public opinion on science issues. Researchers found that people who say that risks posed by ...

Other Sciences / Social Sciences

created Jan 13, 2011 | popularity 4 / 5 (4) | comments 7 | with audio podcast

People reject popular opinions if they already hold opposing views, study finds

What would happen if you developed a strong opinion on an issue, and later found that the majority of people disagreed with you?

Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry

created Aug 02, 2010 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (3) | comments 10

Brain mechanisms of social conformity

New research reveals the brain activity that underlies our tendency to "follow the crowd." The study, published by Cell Press in the January 15th issue of the journal Neuron, provides intriguing insight into how human behavi ...

Medicine & Health / Medical research

created Jan 14, 2009 | popularity 3.3 / 5 (4) | comments 0

Study: Bloggers' reasons for writing change over time

(PhysOrg.com) -- While political bloggers were initially inspired to post their thoughts online as a way to help them blow off steam or articulate new ideas, over time they're driven to blog by a desire to influence mainstream ...

Other Sciences / Social Sciences

created Feb 10, 2010 | popularity 4 / 5 (3) | comments 0

Bias found in state supreme courts, according to UGA study

The assignment to write a court's majority opinion is one of the major tools for shaping judicial and, consequently, public policy. Researchers at the University of Georgia, along with the University of North Carolina at ...

Other Sciences / Social Sciences

created May 31, 2012 | popularity 4 / 5 (3) | comments 0

Public opinion a good predictor of terror attacks: study

Public opinion polls are good predictors of terrorist attacks, according to a study published Thursday which argues that terrorists do not act independently of their countrymen's attitudes.

Other Sciences / Social Sciences

created Sep 17, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

Computers learn to spot 'opinion spam' in online reviews

(PhysOrg.com) -- If you read online reviews before purchasing a product or service, you may not always be reading the truth. Review sites are becoming targets for "opinion spam" -- phony positive reviews created by sellers ...

Technology / Computer Sciences

created Jul 26, 2011 | popularity 4 / 5 (2) | comments 3 | with audio podcast

The carriers of memory

Almost 100 years after the outbreak of World War I, public opinion about war in many of the countries that fought appears to have shifted completely. Historian Jay Winter explains how poetry, art and film ...

Other Sciences / Other

created Mar 07, 2012 | popularity 2.3 / 5 (3) | comments 4