Resumo

The literature on public opinion in the 20th century makes expressive reference to the works: Public Opinion, by Walter Lippmann, 1922, and Kritik der Öffentlichen Meinung (translated as On Public Opinion), by Ferdinand Tönnies, also in 1922. Non-systematic evidence shows that there has been discussion on the theme by authors from different strands and epistemologies, as well as from different areas of knowledge and with various research themes. In the light of this, it becomes important to discover the trends in academic production involving the concepts of “public opinion”.

The literature on public opinion in the 20th century makes expressive reference to the works: Public Opinion, by Walter Lippmann, 1922, and Kritik der Öffentlichen Meinung (translated as On Public Opinion), by Ferdinand Tönnies, also in 1922. Non-systematic evidence shows that there has been discussion on the theme by authors from different strands and epistemologies, as well as from different areas of knowledge and with various research themes. In the light of this, it becomes important to discover the trends in academic production involving the concepts of “public opinion”.

The concept of public opinion has provoked controversy. There are even those who claim that public opinion does not exist (Bourdieu, 1980). The controversy is due to the fact that “[...] the centrality of public opinion in social and political thinking renders it a fundamental symbolic value for societies. It effectively served as the basis for revolutions, democratic movements or to support totalitarian regimes” (Mateus, 2008, p. 59). It is still common to encounter the assertion that “[...] there can be no democracy without the democratic formation of public opinion.

We carried out a bibliometric analysis of 2,536 articles selected from the Web of Science by Thomson Reuters. Using the CiteSpace software (Chen, 2006), we sought to describe the research front and intellectual base of the research field. We sought to answer the research question through a bibliometric analysis, which aims to organize scientific output trends and comprehend how a certain area of knowledge has been developing. Investigations such as these also propose an analysis of the dynamics associated with the formation, maintenance and decline of some scientific communities or fields.

In relation to the research front, we noted the evolution and growth of publications over a period from 1945 to 2016. In our sample, we identified. Shapiro (12 articles) and Jacobs (10 articles) as the most prolific authors. The most referenced articles were those by Gamson and Modigliani (1989), with 1,108 citations, and by Page and Shapiro (1983), with 499 citations. The author co-citation network showed Page and Zaller as the most prominent authors, while it is important to note that there were significant changes in the central authors from the field over the period from 1945 to 2016.

Results show that scientific output on public opinion is on the increase and that the theme is plural (multidisciplinary) in its approaches, research areas and study subjects. It is also noted, as per Figueiredo and Cevellini (1995), that the most appropriate term would be “public opinions”, given that there is no sole understanding that may be singularized for this expression. Finally, based on this bibliometric analysis, new theoretical and empirical research may be performed bearing in mind the continuous and dynamic expansion of the research front and the intellectual base.

Chen, C. (2006). CiteSpace II: Detecting and visualizing emerging trends and transient patterns in scientific literature. JASIST, 57(3), 359-377, doi:10.1002/asi.20317. Figueiredo, R., & Cervellini, S. (1995). Contribuição para o Conceito de public opinion. Opinião pública, 3(3), 171-185. Gamson, W. A., & Modigliani, A. (1989). Media discourse and public-opinion on nuclear-power - a constructionist approach. American Journal of Sociology, 95(1), 1-37. Lippmann, W. (1922). Public opinion, (pp. 3-32). New York, NY: MacMillan Co.