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Newswise — NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Voter reaction to campaign advertisements by the presidential candidates will be promptly and scientifically evaluated this fall through a partnership between Vanderbilt University and YouGov, a prominent research firm.
The
Vanderbilt University/YouGov Ad Rating Project was launched July 23 at
The Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. John Geer, Gertrude
Conaway Vanderbilt Professor of Political Science, joined a group of
distinguished panelists to explain the project, being conducted under
the auspices of the Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions at
Vanderbilt.
“We thought it would be valuable to gauge what voters
think about political ads, instead of pundits,” Geer said. “These will
be timely, carefully conducted polls to find out how ads are affecting
registered voters.”
YouGov will use a representative sample of 600
Americans, with an over-sample of 200 pure independents, for the poll.
The polls will be conducted quickly, with results usually available
within 36 hours of the debut of an ad. Fred Davis III, a well-known and
respected Republican media consultant and advertising expert, is
serving as adviser to the project.
Voters will be quizzed on a
number of questions including how each ad makes them feel, how
believable it is, whether they think it is fair or not, whether it is
memorable or not and whether they think the ads are negative or
positive. Results will be posted on a website for The Vanderbilt
University/YouGov Ad Rating Project.
Geer is the author of five
books on politics, including In Defense of Negativity: Attack
Advertising in Presidential Campaigns. He says that the 2012
presidential race between President Obama andMitt Romney will likely be
the most negative campaign in the modern era.
Vanderbilt’s Center
for the Study of Democratic Institutions, which is a key sponsor of the
project, aims to foster an engaging intellectual environment to explore
how political institutions shape political debate, ameliorate conflicts
and influence public policy.
Visit Vanderbilt's 2012 Election Website for more research, experts
and news.
-VU-