How the CNN undecided voter line-thingee works

[leftyclimber]

(edited from a previous post)

One of my department's faculty uses this exact same technology in his research. It's called Continuous Audience Response Technology (CART). I've played with it a bit. It's pretty cool/fun.

The focus group has handheld dials -- it's a knob on a handheld unit about the size of a computer mouse. (For my fellow Gen X-ers, it looks a lot like an Intellivision controller, but a little smaller.) They're given a scale of 1-100. 50 is the midline (neutral). Anything below the 50=bad, anything above 50=good. It looks like the focus group has been instructed to reset to 50 when Brokaw says something or when an audience member asks a question. If a focus group member turns the knob to the right, the score goes up; if they turn the knob to the left, the score goes down.

When you watch the debate on CNN you're seeing the undecided voter reactions in real time. What's happening on the right-hand side is what's going on now. (Notice that people are reacting to words and phrases a lot of the time.) The overall view gives you an idea of the patterns in which people are reacting. (Also notice that the line goes down when McStupid attacks, or, well, when he talks at all.)

I can actually tolerate listening to McStupid with the lines, because I can get distracted by how people are responding. Hopefully this helps you, too. Enjoy!

-nerdy lefty

[likesmountains 52]

1. Thank you!

[oldtime dfl_er]

2. Thanks! One question

is there maybe a two second delay in the results?

[leftyclimber]

4. It looks like it to me.

You can't get 100% realtime, and without seeing the setup, it's hard to determine the delay on the response relative to the computers they're using. But people are also going to turn the knob after they hear something because they have to have time to process it, so it's not going to be perfectly in sync.

[grannylib]

3. It's been so much fun to watch the lines nosedive when McAnus

opens his mouth, particularly when he starts right out with an attack.
Glad the public isn't fooled by the old goat.
HEAR THAT, MCANUS??
WE ARE NOT FOOLED.
And ya know what else??
I don't GIVE A SHIT what you spent 5.5 years doing in Hanoi. Not anymore.

[leftyclimber]

7. Amen, grannylib.

My colleague who uses the dialy-knob thingee is a UMinn graduate and originally from St.Cloud. I'll say hi on his behalf! :hi:

[grannylib]

11. Awesome, please do! We love Minnesota, ya sure you betcha

WE CAN!!!

[renate]

5. I noticed that at least once when Obama was going after McCain for something, the line went down

Does that mean the audience didn't like that Obama was going after McCain, or that they didn't like the facts about McCain that Obama was saying? In other words, are they rating the speaker or are they rating how happy they are to be hearing what they're hearing?

[leftyclimber]

From my observations, it looks like attacks don't go over well with undecided voters.

Because the lines go down regardless of who's attacking, my hypothesis is that attacks are not popular with undecided voters regardless of who attacks. If attacks were only going down with one candidate, it would be easy to say that the focus group doesn't like a particular candidate's attacks. But since they're going down with BOTH candidates, it appears that attacks in general aren't popular with undecided voters.

I'd have to have the raw data and do statistical analysis to say concretely, but just looking at the lines, that appears to be the pattern.

[renate]

6. oh, and P.S., thanks for the explanation! n/t

[writes3000]

8. Yes, they are told to reset to the middle when a new question comes. nt

[Jackeens]

9. Thanks a MILLION! n/t

[TexasObserver]

10. Gramps is that great uncle that can't get anyone to listen to him at a family reunion

He wanders around, from person to person, talking until they walk away.