Collaborative Research: Using Web Data to Study Congressional Campaigns and Representation

协作研究：使用网络数据研究国会竞选和代表

• 批准号: 1627431
• 负责人: Martin Kifer
• 金额: $ 5.24万
• 依托单位: High Point University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2016-09-01 至 2019-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1627431&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Using; Web; Data

General SummaryElectoral campaigns are a defining feature of democratic polities. Yet studying electoral campaigns and their effects has been difficult. With the support of prior National Science Foundation grants, the investigators have developed a theory of campaign communication and tested expectations using data from congressional campaign and members' official websites. The investigators extend their data collection to include the 2016 campaign and the 2015 and 2017 legislative sessions. A key component of the project is that it brings together campaign and legislative data. The PIs construct a publicly available dataset that includes coding of approximately 3,000 House and Senate campaign websites and roughly 300 official congressional websites, over sixteen points in time. These data include extensive information on candidates' backgrounds, districts, and campaigns, as well as data on television advertisements and media coverage. Extending the data is critical for further understanding how the public's growing technological sophistication affects what candidates and representatives present online. This project also provides opportunities to study campaigns and their effects on legislation and representation.Technical SummaryElectoral campaigns are a defining feature of democratic polities. Yet studying electoral campaigns and their effects has been difficult. In recent work, the investigators have developed a theory of campaign communication and tested expectations using data from congressional campaign websites and members' official websites. The investigators have amassed a data set consisting of more than 2,500 website codings, from 2002 through 2014. These data have been used in scholarly projects by the PIs and many other political science investigators. The PIs will extend their data collection to include the 2016 campaign and the 2015 and 2017 legislative sessions. They will code sites over the course of the campaign, archive sites, implement surveys of campaign and official website designers, and code official member websites approximately one year after the campaigns. A major broader impact of the project is that the team of coders include only undergraduate students. These students gain valuable experience with empirical social science research. In the end, the investigators will construct a publicly available data set that includes coding of more than 3,000 web sites over multiple years. This project provides opportunities to study campaigns and their effects on legislation and representation.

概述选举活动是民主政体的一个决定性特征。 然而，研究竞选活动及其影响一直很困难。 在美国国家科学基金会先前拨款的支持下，研究人员开发了一种竞选沟通理论，并使用国会竞选和成员官方网站的数据测试了预期。 调查人员将数据收集范围扩大到了 2016 年的竞选活动以及 2015 年和 2017 年的立法会议。 该项目的一个关键组成部分是汇集了竞选和立法数据。 PI 构建了一个公开可用的数据集，其中包括超过 16 个时间点的大约 3,000 个众议院和参议院竞选网站以及大约 300 个国会官方网站的编码。这些数据包括有关候选人背景、选区和竞选活动的广泛信息，以及有关电视广告和媒体报道的数据。扩展数据对于进一步了解公众日益增长的技术复杂性如何影响候选人和代表在网上的表现至关重要。 该项目还提供了研究竞选活动及其对立法和代表的影响的机会。技术摘要选举活动是民主政体的一个决定性特征。 然而，研究竞选活动及其影响一直很困难。 在最近的工作中，调查人员开发了一种竞选沟通理论，并使用国会竞选网站和议员官方网站的数据测试了预期。 调查人员从 2002 年到 2014 年积累了一个由 2,500 多个网站编码组成的数据集。这些数据已被 PI 和许多其他政治学调查人员用于学术项目。 PI 将扩大其数据收集范围，将 2016 年竞选活动以及 2015 年和 2017 年立法会议纳入其中。 他们将在活动期间对网站进行编码、存档网站、对活动和官方网站设计者进行调查，并在活动结束后大约一年对官方会员网站进行编码。该项目的一个更广泛的影响是，编码员团队仅包括本科生。这些学生获得了实证社会科学研究的宝贵经验。最后，研究人员将构建一个公开可用的数据集，其中包括多年来对 3,000 多个网站的编码。 该项目提供了研究运动及其对立法和代表性的影响的机会。