Presidential campaign impact on voters

This study's major purpose was to assess the impact of a presidential election campaign, particularly the media campaign, on the electorate. The surveys contained batteries of questions about people's media use: their exposure to national news, their attention to this news, and their interest in election coverage in particular. The surveys also provided measures of public orientations that may be affected by the campaign, e.g., voting preferences, candidate images, etc., and gathered general information about respondent's party loyalties, ideology, and personal background. The panel survey was based on two samples of randomly selected adults, one each from the metropolitan areas of Los Angeles, California, and Erie, Pennsylvania. Respondents were contacted for five personal interviews: in February, before the first primary was held, in April, during the early primaries, in June, during the late primaries, in August, during the conventions, and in October, before the general election. In addition, half the sample was interviewed by telephone after the first televised presidential debate and the other half interviewed after the second debate. Respondents were also interviewed by tele