Collaborative Research on Election Campaigns and the Voter

Columbia University, New York NY

Investigators

Abstract

This award is for an analysis of poll data and attempts to determine how much campaigns actually influence voters and how long the effects persist. In particular, researchers analyze how variables, such as party identification, grow and recede in importance as the campaign evolves. Using applied statistical procedures, the researchers investigate this question at both the aggregate and individual level. At the aggregate level they analyze state-level poll data for the President and other offices as well as national data for Congressional office. For the individual level, they analyze presidential preference surveys from at least every month of each election year from 1952 to 2000.