Autumn Morris Hypotheses and Motivation There are a lot of ways to obtain political information from a variety of sources. Each has differences in the ways they discuss political information, which might influence the general population's political opinions and perspectives, and influence voter turnout as well as decide who or what to vote for. In this way, it is important to look at how political information might influence voter turnout. My null hypothesis as it stands is political information frequency increases voter turnout in registered voters. It’s important to understand how political information impacts voter turnout, in terms of a sources’ potency and understanding of political affairs. And, in analyzing the significance of political information frequency in registered voters, we have a better understanding of its influence on voter turnout. Although, there’s only a little to none significance, there is an understanding that there’s a need for more data collection in survey takers. My dependent variable is registered voters among college students, and political information frequency as my independent variable. Lastly, my causal mechanism is efficacy, as I am analyzing the power of political information frequency. It is important to understand how frequency influences our understanding of political information as well as its sources, in terms of how often we tune into current affairs and research them. Empirical studies’ suggestions: Goldstein, & Ridout (2004) focuses on influences that derive from televised information on campaigns. They talk about biases and persuasion that is endeavored within the televised political information surrounding advertised campaigns. They suggest that many of the current measuring strategies are “flawed,” and talk through, as well as analyze the many measuring strategies. They also state that there are few studies conducted on “effects of television advertising on voter behavior and election outcomes” by political scientists (Goldstein & Ridout, 2004). They found within those studies that political influence does not derive from advertising and instead, small influences are derived elsewhere. The studies showed a significant amount of individuals’ exposure were “selective to political messages and political messengers mitigated the possible effects of election propaganda” (Goldstein & Ridout, 2004). The studies also showed that individuals’ voting choice was derived less than 100% of the backgrounds of both the person running for office, and of the party and showed no signs of “predisposition,” and instead, they focused their research on “national political and economic factors.” They mention that besides the lack of empirical evidence of campaigns and advertisements, individuals still suggest that campaigns and advertisements must matter and influence voters, because millions are spent on advertising. In Healy, & Malhotra (2013), they discuss retrospective voting, and how might voters determine government performance and act on those determinations. They review studies that cover retrospective voting over the past 10 years. They suggest that many individuals lack political information and are disinterested in politics. The literatures in review use controlled and natural experiments, and focus on the causes and effects, and concerns surrounding it and their biases. The authors build to research on Anderson’s (2007) economic voting, they suggest that “retrospection is moderated by the cognitive limitations of voters as well as political institutions.” Instead, Healy & Malhotra (2013), argue that “voters responsiveness to the economy (and other performance metrics) does not enhance public welfare per se.” They ask “Are voters reacting in the right way?” They attempt to answer the questions “How do voters evaluate government performance? What does this imply about the health of American democracy and the policies it produces?” Measurements and Methods My operational definitions are political information; and frequency. I will measure them through how often students read or watch political information. In understanding their presence/absence or levels through the causes and effects of students’ frequency of obtaining political information. The variables used are political information frequency [InfoFreq] and registered voters among college students. The data collected was in collaboration with other students on FLC Political Analysis Lab. There were in total, 160 respondents on the PAL 2020 Study of FLC Civic Engagement survey. Political information frequency [InfoFreq] is measured by “once a month or less” (0), “A few times a month (1), “once a week” (2), “a few times a week” (3), and “daily or more” (4). When asked “How often do you read or watch political information?” Registered voters are measured by yes (1), no (0), and unsure (.5). And, when asked “Are you currently registered to vote?” To find if political information increases voter registration I tested information frequency among registered college students using the independent sample test, in order to find any indication of political information influences. This test will determine if [InfoFreq] is either higher or lower among college students who are registered to vote. Results and Analysis: In figure one, the graph shows that there is little significance with [InfoFreq] in registered voters among college students. This means that political information hardly impacts voter turnout in registered voters with a result of yes registered voters. (Figure one) In figure two we can see that there are 13 college students who did not register to vote and a total of 156 college students who did register to vote. (Figure two) In figure three, the independent sample test indicates that there was little significance with the tested variable, information frequency, and test group, registered voters of (.165) and (.158). The p-values are greater than 0.05, which is an indication that there is no significance here. With this understanding there is a rejection of the null hypothesis that political information frequency increases voter turnout in registered voters in figures three and four. (Figure three) (Figure four)
Conclusion There is a need for more data collection in order to best determine if political information increases voter turnout in registered voters among college students. In this way, there is no significance and a rejection of the null hypothesis. Although, it is interesting to think that if political information did increase voter turnout, there would be a great need for a well reliable source of political information, to not only increase voter turnout but to determine our political opinions and perspectives. Citations: Goldstein, K., & Ridout, T. N. (2004). Measuring the effects of televised political advertising in the United States. Annual Review of Political Science, 7, 205–226. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.polisci.7.012003.104820 Healy, A., & Malhotra, N. (2013). Retrospective voting reconsidered. Annual Review of Political Science, 16, 285–306. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-polisci-032211-212920
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