| The study of public opinion has been undertaken by students in a varietyof fields, such as history, sociology, psychology, social psychology, journalism,advertising, and politics. Numerous methods of approach and techniqueshave been employed, and points of view with reference to the scope, content,and objectives of such a study have differed. The body of information relat-ing to the subject has now reached such proportions that it seems desirableto attempt a tentative classification of it. A survey of the entire field of inves-tigation will suggest not only the multiplicity of interest-objectives, but alsothe fact that certain phases have received a disproportionate amount ofattention, and other aspects almost none. The fact that the study of publicopinion has been undertaken by students equipped with such a varyingsupply of techniques, indicates that one entering upon the study must beprepared to ignore to some ecxtent traditional categories of academic learningand venture resolutely acrosd~\.more or less crystallized lines of departmentaldistinction. At the same time, however, it affords the adventurer an oppor-tunity to take advantage of whatever methodological inventions may havebeen discovered in related fields. The aims of an introductory study of this nature are to acquaint thestudent with the literature in the field, with the objectives that have enlistedthe interest of students from different fields, with the more important prob-lems that challenge investigation and solution, and with the various tech-niques that may be employed in treating a subject, such as this, in the arenaof the social sciences. For those who may find that the study lacks finalityand completeness, it is necessary to state that it is not the purpose of thecourse to "cover" a particular field of study in the traditional sense, but ratherto open up new vistas, along which one may travel with the guidance ofspecialists. The farther one proceeds in the study of some particular phase ofpublic opinion, the more necessary is the counsel of students in other fields,whether they be statisticians, sociologists, publicists, or psychologists. Stu-dents of public opinion must be prepared to go for their information wherethey can find it. |
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