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Examining dimensions of political discussion and political knowledge

Thomson, Tiffany L
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1185903001

Abstract Details

2007, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Communication.
Although some reports are rather dim regarding citizens’ levels of political knowledge, research has shown that certain things can cause this level to rise, at least at the individual level. With this focus in mind, the goal of this study is to further examine the impact of political discussion on political knowledge. First, political knowledge is explicated as an overarching concept with two dimensions. These two dimensions are factual and structural knowledge. The concept of political discussion is also explicated as an overarching concept but with three dimensions, including discussion frequency, discussion content (measured as the dissimilarity of political views in discussion), and discussion cognition (using a discussion elaboration as well as a perspective taking measure). Finally, hypotheses including several mediating relationships are set forth bridging the various dimensions of political discussion and political knowledge together. In order to examine the relationships between the various dimensions of these two concepts, three studies were completed. Study 1 utilized data from the 2000 ANES, examining the impact of discussion frequency and dissimilarity on factual knowledge, as well as the impact of discussion dissimilarity on structural knowledge. Study 2 examined relationships between discussion dissimilarity, perspective taking, and structural knowledge. Data for this study was derived from The Ohio Political Survey (TOPS) conducted in the fall of 2006 and early winter 2007. Data for study 3 was collected in the fall of 2005 from 18 public high schools in an urban Midwestern school district. Although data are available from teachers, parents, and students, only student data were used for this study, where the full model including relationships between all dimensions of political discussion and knowledge were examined. Results indicate that factual knowledge is predicted by both discussion frequency and dissimilarity. Moreover, the relationship between discussion frequency and factual knowledge was found to be mediated through discussion elaboration. On the other hand, contrary to hypotheses, discussion dissimilarity did not predict structural knowledge, nor was this relationship mediated by either perspective taking or discussion elaboration. Conclusions and considerations for future research are discussed.
William Eveland (Advisor)
205 p.
political discussion; political knowledge; perspective taking; elaboration; heterogeneity; social networks

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Citations

  • Thomson, T. L. (2007). Examining dimensions of political discussion and political knowledge [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1185903001

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Thomson, Tiffany. Examining dimensions of political discussion and political knowledge. 2007. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1185903001.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Thomson, Tiffany. "Examining dimensions of political discussion and political knowledge." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2007. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1185903001

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1185903001
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© 2007, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.