Collaborative Research: Using Web Data to Study Campaigns and Representation

竞选活动是民主政治的一个决定性特征--它们影响选民的选择，并设定对民选代表如何为选民服务的期望。然而，研究竞选活动及其影响是困难的。在同一时间在一个国家举行多次选举的情况下，情况尤其如此。在这个项目中，私人投资机构以2002年以来收集的数据为基础，分析候选人网站的大样本，并对候选人竞选活动进行调查。这些数据提供了一幅广泛的竞选活动的整体图景--无论是赢家还是输家--并让学者和公民能够评估竞选活动做了什么，为什么要这样做，以及它可能与随后的治理有何关联。该项目的学术价值在于，这些数据将使学者和公民能够获得前所未有的数据，了解那些希望代表民众的人的行为方式以及他们所使用的话语类型。更广泛的影响是，这些数据将提供的对竞选活动的更多了解将使从业者能够确定政治变革的根源，并讨论最终可能提高竞选质量的改革。该项目还将让学生学习如何进行研究，并能够在自己的工作中使用数据。在美国，公民选择代表的部分依据是竞选活动。然而，竞选活动很难研究，因为它们涉及如此多的候选人，其中许多人的竞选成本相对较低，规模较小。获得具有代表性的竞选话语样本的一种方法是依赖候选人网站，因为几乎所有候选人都有网站。网站也是理想的，因为竞选团队将其视为针对选民的信息的整体肖像。自2002年以来，私人助理对竞选网站进行了编码，并对竞选活动进行了调查。其结果是随着时间的推移，产生了前所未有的竞选行为数据集。在这个项目中，私人投资机构将把这些数据扩展到即将到来的选举中，鉴于情感两极分化和不文明行为的增加以及选举的国有化，这一点特别令人感兴趣。该项目的学术价值在于，它将使学者和公民能够获得有关那些希望代表民众的人的行为方式和他们所使用的话语类型的数据。此外，它将使学者能够跟踪互联网和技术随时间的演变，并测试竞选理论及其对选民和代表的影响。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Electoral campaigns are a defining feature of democratic polities-they influence voters' choices and set expectations for how elected representatives will serve their constituents. Yet, studying campaigns and their effects is difficult. This is particularly true when it comes to situations where numerous elections are taking place in a single country at one time. In this project, the PIs build on data that have been collected since 2002, analyzing large samples of candidate websites and conducting surveys of candidate campaigns. These data provide a holistic picture of a wide range of campaigns-both winners and losers-and offer scholars and citizens the ability to assess what campaigns do, why they do it, and how it might relate to subsequent governing. The intellectual merit to the project is that the data will allow scholars and citizens access to unprecedented data about how those looking to represent the populace behave and the type of discourse they employ. The broader impact is that the enhanced understanding of campaigns that these data will provide will enable practitioners to identify sources of political change and discuss reforms that could ultimately improve campaign quality. The project also will involve students who will learn how to conduct research and be able to use the data in their own work. In the United States, citizens choose their representatives in part based on campaigns. Yet, campaigns are difficult to study as they involve so many candidates, many of whom run relatively low-cost, small campaigns. One way to obtain a representative sample of campaign discourse is to rely on candidate websites since virtually all candidates have websites. Websites also are ideal insofar as campaigns view them as holistic portraits of messages aimed at voters. Since 2002, the PIs have coded campaign websites and conducted surveys of campaigns. The result is an unprecedented data set of campaign behavior over-time. In this project, the PIs will extend that data into the upcoming election, which is of particular interest given increased affective polarization and incivility, and the nationalization of elections. The intellectual merit to the project is that it will allow scholars and citizens access to data about how those looking to represent the populace behave and the type of discourse they employ. Further, it will enable scholars to track the evolution of the Internet and technology over time, and test theories of campaigns and their effects on voters and representatives.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.