Most effective use of a political wife in a political ad in a long time.
(Back story on what Mrs. Wilson is talking about)
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Thursday, September 10, 2009
20 questions a journalist should ask about poll results
We spoke last class about how the media reports poll results and whether they accurately portray what the results show. The National Council on Public Polls provides these "20 questions a journalist should ask about poll results" in an article on its Web site. Thought this was a great resource for evaluating public opinion polls:
Who did the poll? Who paid for the poll and why was it done? How many people were interviewed for the survey? How were those people chosen? What area (nation, state, or region) or what group (teachers,lawyers, Democratic voters, etc.) were these people chosen from? Are the results based on the answers of all the people interviewed? Who should have been interviewed and was not? Or do response rates matter? When was the poll done? How were the interviews conducted? What about polls on the Internet or World Wide Web? What is the sampling error for the poll results? Who’s on first? What other kinds of factors can skew poll results? What questions were asked? In what order were the questions asked? What about "push polls?" What other polls have been done on this topic? Do they say the same thing? If they are different, why are they different? What about exit polls? What else needs to be included in the report of the poll? So I've asked all the questions. The answers sound good. Should we report the results?
http://www.ncpp.org/?q=node/4
20 Questions:
More for Monday...
Here is another supplemental reading for Monday.
Values-Based Political Messages and Persuasion: Relationships among Speaker, Recipient, and Evoked Values
Thomas E. Nelson and Jennifer Garst
link:
http://www.jstor.org/stable/3792572?seq=1
or
http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/3792572.pdf
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
For Monday...
Hi guys,
See below a citation for an additional reading to discuss on Monday. The reading applies the balance theory to electoral behavior, which is addressed the Psychological Perspectives reading. Please let me know if you have trouble with finding the articles on the LSU libraries Web site. I'll be happy to email it to you.
- Political Psychology, Vol. 15, No. 4 (Dec., 1994), pp. 699-711
- Published by: International Society of Political Psychology
- Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3791628
Link: http://www.jstor.org.libezp.lib.lsu.edu/stable/3791628?&Search=yes&term=Fritz&term=theory&term=Heider&term=Balance&list=hide&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3DBalance%2Btheory%2Bby%2BFritz%2BHeider%26gw%3Djtx%26prq%3DBalance%2Btheory%26Search%3DSearch%26hp%3D25%26wc%3Don&item=1&ttl=279&returnArticleService=showArticle
Fed survey shows U.S. recession may be over
Hey guys, saw this report on a recent survey on the Business Report's "Daily Report" and thought I'd pass it along:
Economic activity is stabilizing or improving in the vast majority of the country, according to a government survey released today. The findings indicate that the worst recession since the 1930s may be over. The Federal Reserve's snapshot of economic conditions backs predictions by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and most other analysts that the economy has started to grow once again in the current quarter. In the new survey, all but one of the Fed's 12 regions indicated that economic activity was "stable," showed "signs of stabilization" or had "firmed." The one exception was the St. Louis region, which continued to report that the pace of decline in economic activity appeared to be "moderating." Looking ahead, businesses in most Fed regions said they were "cautiously positive" about the economic outlook.
The assessments of businesses on the front lines of the economy were brighter than those they provided for the previous Fed report in late July. At that time, most regions said the recession was easing its grip and some reported signs that activity was leveling off.
In today's survey, the Dallas region indicated that economic activity had "firmed." The Fed regions of Boston, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Richmond and San Francisco mentioned "signs of improvement." The Atlanta, Chicago, Kansas City, Minneapolis and New York regions described activity as "stable or showing signs of stabilization."
Analysts predict the economy is growing in the current July-September quarter at anywhere between 3% and 4%.
Economic activity is stabilizing or improving in the vast majority of the country, according to a government survey released today. The findings indicate that the worst recession since the 1930s may be over. The Federal Reserve's snapshot of economic conditions backs predictions by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and most other analysts that the economy has started to grow once again in the current quarter. In the new survey, all but one of the Fed's 12 regions indicated that economic activity was "stable," showed "signs of stabilization" or had "firmed." The one exception was the St. Louis region, which continued to report that the pace of decline in economic activity appeared to be "moderating." Looking ahead, businesses in most Fed regions said they were "cautiously positive" about the economic outlook.
The assessments of businesses on the front lines of the economy were brighter than those they provided for the previous Fed report in late July. At that time, most regions said the recession was easing its grip and some reported signs that activity was leveling off.
In today's survey, the Dallas region indicated that economic activity had "firmed." The Fed regions of Boston, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Richmond and San Francisco mentioned "signs of improvement." The Atlanta, Chicago, Kansas City, Minneapolis and New York regions described activity as "stable or showing signs of stabilization."
Analysts predict the economy is growing in the current July-September quarter at anywhere between 3% and 4%.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Public Opinion, PR and Political Discourse
The below story is an interesting example, in my opinion, of PR, public opinion and when the discourse turns to politics.
UofL coach, Rick Pitino, recently criticized the media for covering his affair. However, his folks contacted the media about FBI charges he was filing, during a high profile Derby event. The charges were later found out to be against the woman he had an affair with.
At a recent Pitino interview, the media was told not to ask questions about Pitino's affair. The sports director, I used to work with, asked them anyway.
In the story, you'll hear the language turn to public opinion. Pitino even compares his situation to a political race.
I probably have invested interest in this story because I was at the Federal courthouse when Karen Sypher first appeared. She spoke when her former attorney advised her not to talk.
Anyway, I think this is an interesting example of asking questions even with PR folks advise you keep your questions to a particular topic and how politics leaks in to stories.
http://www.whas11.com/video/index.html?nvid=395576&shu=1
UofL coach, Rick Pitino, recently criticized the media for covering his affair. However, his folks contacted the media about FBI charges he was filing, during a high profile Derby event. The charges were later found out to be against the woman he had an affair with.
At a recent Pitino interview, the media was told not to ask questions about Pitino's affair. The sports director, I used to work with, asked them anyway.
In the story, you'll hear the language turn to public opinion. Pitino even compares his situation to a political race.
I probably have invested interest in this story because I was at the Federal courthouse when Karen Sypher first appeared. She spoke when her former attorney advised her not to talk.
Anyway, I think this is an interesting example of asking questions even with PR folks advise you keep your questions to a particular topic and how politics leaks in to stories.
http://www.whas11.com/video/index.html?nvid=395576&shu=1
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Speaking of public opinion of Congress...
Forty-two percent (42%) of U.S. voters say a group of people randomly selected from the phone book would do a better job than the current Congress. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey finds that an identical number (42%) disagree, but 16% are not sure.
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/general_politics/august_2009/42_say_people_randomly_selected_from_phone_book_better_than_current_congress
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