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We are professors of political science. The goal is not to post partisan opinions, but rather to share our academic research. Learn more. Each post reflects only its author's views.
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Tag Archives: polls
What is the future of the Republican nominating system?
The Republican Central Committee recently decided that it would not change the manner by which candidates gain access to the Republican primary ballot. The decision not to change the rules creates a possible showdown with Count My Vote. The group … Continue reading
Do Utah Legislators work enough to justify their salary?
It’s not much of a stretch to claim that Utah Legislators earn poverty wages. Since passage of HJR006 early in 2013, Utah Legislators will earn $16,500 per year. It can be difficult to know how many hours legislators put in … Continue reading
Posted in Everything
Tagged legislative life, legislature, polls, representation, utah legislator survey
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How did Ben McAdams win?
How did McAdams win? First, he kept his base and won big among independents. This analysis was performed by Carlos Madrid, a student in the class that organized the Utah Colleges Exit Poll. The writing is mostly his. Inquiries about … Continue reading
Posted in Everything
Tagged democrat, Latino, polls, republican, salt lake county, utah colleges exit poll
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Can Mia Love Still Win?
If the Utah Colleges Exit Poll estimate accurately reflects all absentee voters, Love will make up some of the current deficit but eventually lose by 1,572 votes. This analysis was performed by Matthew Frei, a student research fellow at BYU’s Center for the … Continue reading
Posted in Everything
Tagged absentee voting, campaigns, election administration, jim matheson, mia love, polls, utah colleges exit poll
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Which Utah pollsters correctly predicted the election results?
Only one of Utah’s three professional pollsters was reasonably accurate with almost every prediction it made. In the two weeks prior to the election, several pollsters tried their hand at forecasting the election results in Utah’s various races. I thought … Continue reading
Posted in Everything
Tagged Key Research, measurement, polls, presidential election, public opinion, rankings, USU
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Why pollsters should release their topline results
Polls can be done well or poorly. Releasing topline results aids the public in detecting poor polls. The Tribune reported a Mason-Dixon poll last week suggesting a wide Republican advantage in the race for Salt Lake County mayor. Yesterday, the … Continue reading
What’s up with Senator Mike Lee’s Favorability Rating? (plus Oct 2012 Key Research Toplines)
It’s not that Lee is really unpopular, it’s just that even after two years he’s still relatively unknown. Lee’s statewide favorability resembles the statewide ratings of Utah’s Republican U.S. House members. Key Research, a survey and market research company based … Continue reading
Posted in Everything
Tagged approval ratings, barack obama, gary herbert, jason chaffetz, jim matheson, orrin hatch, polls, public opinion, rob bishop, utah voter poll
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What Are Utahns’ Top Issue Priorities?
Utahns’ issue priorities fall into three distinct groups with Education and Jobs being most important and Gun Rights and Public Lands being least important. Note: This post is written by the POLS 6010 Graduate Research Methods class at Utah State … Continue reading
Posted in Everything
Tagged education, energy, gun rights, immigration, jobs, polls, USU
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Comparing the USU and Key/BYU election prediction polls
Both polls agree that Republicans will sweep Utah’s statewide races decisively. We saw something unusual this week: Two well-designed polls, conducted independently (not by campaigns), in the field at the same time. Damon Cann published the USU pre-election poll last … Continue reading
Posted in Everything
Tagged barack obama, jim matheson, Key Research, mia love, mitt romney, orrin hatch, polls, scott howell, voting
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Before any of the debates. Before SuperStorm Sandy. Before the last-minute barrage of campaign advertising. He predicted the result perfectly over a month ago. Over the past several months, political scientists have consistently forecasted an Obama victory–a relatively narrow one, … Continue reading →