by Frank James
HCD Research., a market-research company, has conducted a focus group of self-described Democrats who HCD had watch parts of the Tuesday night’s Democratic presidential debate, then react to it on-line.
The company tested three debate segments: driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants, the Iraq War and the approach the U.S. should take to Iran.
One interesting result: After the 400 viewers watched the drivers-license segment 63 percent thought it was still a bad idea to provide illegal immigrants with licenses. It was 62 percent before they viewed the segment.
Here’s HCD’s press release which explains what its researchers found.
Democratic Candidates Fail to Change Americans’ Perceptions
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— Overwhelming Majority Believe U.S. in Desperate Need for Immigration Reform —
Flemington, NJ, November 1, 2007 – A new national focus group among 400 self-reported Democrats revealed that the candidates failed to change Americans’ perceptions during the recent Democratic debate.
The communications research study was conducted by HCD Research, using its mediacurves.com web site, during October 31 and November 1, to obtain Americans’ views of candidates after viewing segments from the Democratic debate on October 30.
While viewing two video segments of the debate regarding the war in Iraq and immigration reform, participants indicated their levels of agreement by moving their mouse from left to right on a continuum. The responses were recorded in quarter-second intervals and reported in the form of curves. Participants were asked pre- and post-viewing questions regarding their opinions of the candidates. To view detailed results and agreement curves, go to: www.mediacurves.com.
Among the study findings:
Prior to viewing the segment on the war in Iraq, 47% reported that they would vote for Senator Clinton if the Democratic primary for the 2008 presidential candidate was held today, compared to 19% who reported they would vote for Senator Obama and 12% who reported they would vote for John Edwards.
After viewing the segment on the war in Iraq, voters decreased their support for Senator Clinton and increased their support for Senator Obama and John Edwards, with 41% reporting that they would vote for Senator Clinton; 24% reporting they would vote for Senator Obama; and 14% reporting they would vote for John Edwards.
On the subject of immigration reform, an overwhelming majority 89% reported that the U.S. is in desperate need for immigration reform, and more than half 63%, do not support the idea of providing drivers’ licenses to illegal immigrants.
The Media Curves web site provides the media and general public with a venue to view Americans’ perceptions of popular and controversial media events and advertisements.
HCD Research specializes in conducting communications research for the pharmaceutical, food and beverage, financial and entertainment industries, among others. Headquartered in Flemington, NJ, the company’s services include traditional and web-based communications research.
Here are some Power Point slides of the results.