##  [Public Opinion](/public-opinion) 

  ##  [Public Opinion](https://social.quantumdictionary.io/public-opinion-0) 

  

 [![Social Sciences Dictionary](/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/2026-01/Social%20Sciences.png.webp?itok=FFG6NW1n)](/topic-specific-dictionaries/social-sciences)



**Social Sciences Dictionary**

 







 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

Definition

The aggregate distribution of individual attitudes, beliefs and expressed preferences among a specified population or defined public about political questions, public policy, or public actors; operationally inferred from measurement procedures (surveys, panels, polls) and characterized by central tendency, dispersion, and subgroup variation.