Candidate Evaluation Conference

December 2-3, 1994

The Candidate Evaluation Conference brought together a diverse group of participants: board members, survey researchers, and non-survey researchers. The diversity proved useful, as the Board suggested this mix for future conferences. However, the conference witnessed a lack of consensus regarding likes/dislikes questions and their future on the questionnaires. The Board diverted research and response to this issue to the 1995 Pilot Study Planning Committee. In general, the belief emerged that ANES must do a better job of selecting issues for the questionnaire. The Board discussed forming a sub-committee or a virtual committee. A strictly-guided online forum of the user community could provide valuable feedback and alter the selection process. Overall, the conference circled around two unresolved questions: does ANES have the right issues; does ANES have the right questions about those issues?

Memo to the NES Board of Overseers
by Steven J. Brams

Understanding the Importance and Structure of Trait Inferences in Candidate Imgages
by Carolyn L. Funk

Feeling Thermometers
by William G. Jacoby

Memo to the NES Board of Overseers
by Arthur Lupia

Comments on Issues and Candidate Evaluation
by Stuart Elaine Macdonald and George Rabinowitz

Measuring Emotional Responses: A Proposal to the National Election Studies Board of Overseers by Michael MacKuen and George E. Marcus

Dynamic Models of Emotional Response: The Multiple Roles of Affect in Politics
by George E. Marcus, W. Russell Neuman, Michael MacKuen, and John L. Sullivan

Memo to the NES Board of Overseers by Samuel Merrill, III

The Social Group Dynamics of Partisan Evaluations
by Arthur H. Miller and Christopher Wlezien

Candidate Trait Assessments and Affective Responses to Candidates
by Edward Czilli, David Tewksbury, and Vincent Price

In Search of Unified Field Theories of Voting Behavior: Reconciling Political Psychology and Political Behavior Accounts
by Wendy M. Rahn

Measuring Candidate Qualities: Some Preliminary Thoughts
by Arthur Sanders

Memo to the NES Board of Overseers
by Samuel Merrill

Technical Report #47: Candidate Traits Used in NES Studies, 1979-1994
by Santa Traugott