Predicting how US public opinion on moral issues will change from 2018 to 2020 and beyond

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Bibliographic Details
Title: Predicting how US public opinion on moral issues will change from 2018 to 2020 and beyond
Authors: Pontus Strimling, Irina Vartanova, Kimmo Eriksson
Source: Royal Society Open Science, Vol 9, Iss 4 (2022)
Publisher Information: The Royal Society, 2022.
Publication Year: 2022
Collection: LCC:Science
Subject Terms: public opinion change, moral foundations, predictions, general social survey, Moral argument theory, Science
Description: The General Social Survey, conducted every 2 years, measures public opinion on a wide range of moral issues. The data from the 2020 survey are expected to be released in mid-October 2021. In advance of this data release, we make predictions for how public opinion will have shifted since 2018. We also predict further public opinion shifts for the coming decade up until the year 2030. These predictions are based on the theory that an opinion will become more popular over time if it holds an argument advantage, that is, if it is better justified by generally accepted kinds of arguments than the opposite opinion is. While this theory has successfully accounted for historical opinion trends, this is the first time it is used to predict future shifts. To assess the accuracy of our forecast we will compare it with the benchmark forecast that predicts the same public opinion in 2020 as in 2018.
Document Type: article
File Description: electronic resource
Language: English
ISSN: 2054-5703
Relation: https://doaj.org/toc/2054-5703
DOI: 10.1098/rsos.211068
Access URL: https://doaj.org/article/9d7b1b898a6d46f6a8e4204755c5b5dc
Accession Number: edsdoj.9d7b1b898a6d46f6a8e4204755c5b5dc
Database: Directory of Open Access Journals
Description
Abstract:The General Social Survey, conducted every 2 years, measures public opinion on a wide range of moral issues. The data from the 2020 survey are expected to be released in mid-October 2021. In advance of this data release, we make predictions for how public opinion will have shifted since 2018. We also predict further public opinion shifts for the coming decade up until the year 2030. These predictions are based on the theory that an opinion will become more popular over time if it holds an argument advantage, that is, if it is better justified by generally accepted kinds of arguments than the opposite opinion is. While this theory has successfully accounted for historical opinion trends, this is the first time it is used to predict future shifts. To assess the accuracy of our forecast we will compare it with the benchmark forecast that predicts the same public opinion in 2020 as in 2018.
ISSN:20545703
DOI:10.1098/rsos.211068