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

选举活动是民主政治的一个重要特征。然而，研究竞选活动及其影响一直很困难。在之前国家科学基金会拨款的支持下，调查人员开发了一种竞选沟通理论，并使用国会竞选活动和议员官方网站的数据测试了预期。调查人员扩大了他们的数据收集范围，将2016年的竞选活动以及2015年和2017年的立法会议包括在内。该项目的一个关键组成部分是它汇集了竞选和立法数据。PI构建了一个公开可用的数据集，其中包括对大约3000个参众两院竞选网站和大约300个国会官方网站的编码，超过16个时间点。这些数据包括候选人的背景、选区和竞选活动的广泛信息，以及电视广告和媒体报道的数据。扩大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展示的内容至关重要。这个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。技术总结选举竞选活动是民主政治的一个决定性特征。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。从2002年到2014年，调查人员积累了一个由2500多个网站代码组成的数据集。这些数据已经被私人情报局和许多其他政治学调查人员用于学术项目。私人投资机构将扩大他们的数据收集范围，以包括2016年的竞选活动以及2015年和2017年的立法会议。他们将在竞选过程中对网站进行编码，对网站进行存档，对竞选活动和官方网站设计师进行调查，并在竞选活动大约一年后对官方成员网站进行编码。该项目的一个主要的更广泛的影响是，程序员团队只包括本科生。这些学生在实证社会科学研究方面获得了宝贵的经验。最终，调查人员将构建一个公开可用的数据集，其中包括多年对3000多个网站进行编码。该项目提供了研究运动及其对立法和代表权的影响的机会。

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.