Methodology

Our “Message Jury” is comprised of likely voters in the upcoming Iowa Caucuses and New Hampshire Primary. For the first two dial tests, on April 26 and May 3, we are focused exclusively on Des Moines voters.

In Des Moines we recruited a cross-section of 36 voters to watch the debate together in a hotel conference room. One-third of them are Democrats, another third are Republicans, and the other third are “Independent/Other”. All voted in the 2004 Presidential election and indicated a likelihood to vote in the upcoming caucuses.

Prior to watching each debate, the participants were instructed on how to use an audience-controlled, hand-held dial (known as a Perception Analyzer) to register their continuous, moment-to-moment reaction to the debate as it’s being shown to them on a TV monitor.

On a scale from zero to 100 (with 50 being neutral), our participants turned their dials to convey their continuous assessment of how much they agreed or disagreed with the candidates’ comments as they heard them. Zero represented total disagreement, and 100 represented total agreement. The participants were paid $75 to attend the dial test and participate in a focus group discussion afterwards.

If you have questions about the methodology, please email us using the link below.