Formation of public opinion in terms of preferences and demands mass publics might direct toward political authorities; the cognitive attribution of causal agency to politicians and collective entities in the political process, as well as the assessment of results of that process; the collectivities that actors identify with as members or the boundaries they draw between their own and other actors' collective memberships/identities, including their affective bases; and the attribution of value and 'legitimacy' to political institutions, processes, and entire regimes. Major methods of research to which students are exposed are surveys, experimentation, and qualitative research.
