DOI: 10.3886/icpsr03139.v1
title: United States Presidential Election Campaign Media Analysis, 1996
title: Version 1

description: This study consists of a content analysis of 12 different
 campaign information sources from the 1996 presidential election
 campaign. Each communication outlet (or medium) was analyzed using a
 consistent set of guidelines so the various kinds of media could be
 rigorously compared. The media include traditional news outlets, such
 as network and cable television news (CBS, ABC, NBC, CNN), news
 magazines (TIME magazine), newspapers (the NEW YORK TIMES and various
 other local newspapers), and political advertising, speeches, and
 debates. Other analyzed media include newer forms of campaign media,
 such as televised candidate interviews, candidate Web sites, and free
 televised candidate spots. Areas of investigation include type of news
 story, partisan focus of the story, control of the story, substantive
 focus of the story, election topics covered, sources of the story,
 issues revised, policy debate, reporting of the candidates' records
 and proposals, discussions of candidates' general political conduct,
 their personal background, and associates of the presidential
 candidates, and the political "horse race," in which reporters and
 sources assess the political strength or viability of each of the
 candidates. The information is presented in three types of
 files for each medium. The first file type is the Story-Level
 Data file, which is the master data file. It contains all of the
 variables coded, and the unit of analysis is the story, interview, ad,
 speech, etc. The second file type is the Multiple Story-Level Data
 file. In this file, topics span a number of units. For example, all
 issues mentioned in a "story" are coded, and each issue is
 considered a unit. This file contains the following coding blocks:
 polls, interview guests, topics, sources, issues, candidates' records,
 proposals and issue stands, sound bites, mentions of election-year
 players, correcting the record, and state contests/voting blocs. The
 third file type is the Statement-Level Data file. This file contains
 the following coding blocks: policy debate, evaluations of 1996
 candidates, and horse race assessments. The unit of analysis in this
 file is the "statement," and each story is comprised of multiple
 statements. This file groups the statements by story and orders them
by their placement within the story.
description: Datasets: 
DS0: Study-Level Files
DS1: Candidate Ads, Multiple Story-Level Data
DS2: Candidate Ads, Statement-Level Data
DS3: Candidate Ads, Story-Level Data
DS4: CNN, Multiple Story-Level Data
DS5: CNN, Statement-Level Data
DS6: CNN, Story-Level Data
DS7: Convention Speeches, Multiple Story-Level Data
DS8: Convention Speeches, Statement-Level Data
DS9: Convention Speeches, Story-Level Data
DS10: Candidate Debates, Multiple Story-Level Data
DS11: Candidate Debates, Statement-Level Data
DS12: Candidate Debates, Story-Level Data
DS13: Free Airtime Ads, Multiple Story-Level Data
DS14: Free Airtime Ads, Statement-Level Data
DS15: Free Airtime Ads, Story-Level Data
DS16: Televised Candidate Interviews, Multiple Story-Level Data
DS17: Televised Candidate Interviews, Statement-Level Data
DS18: Televised Candidate Interviews, Story-Level Data
DS19: Composite Local Newspaper, Multiple Story-Level Data
DS20: Composite Local Newspaper, Statement-Level Data
DS21: Composite Local Newspaper, Story-Level Data
DS22: Network News, Multiple Story-Level Data
DS23: Network News, Statement-Level Data
DS24: Network News, Story-Level Data
DS25: NEW YORK TIMES, Multiple Story-Level Data
DS26: NEW YORK TIMES, Statement-Level Data
DS27: NEW YORK TIMES, Story-Level Data
DS28: Candidate Campaign Trail Speeches, Multiple Story-Level Data
DS29: Candidate Campaign Trail Speeches, Statement-Level Data
DS30: Candidate Campaign Trail Speeches, Story-Level Data
DS31: TIME Magazine, Multiple Story-Level Data
DS32: TIME Magazine, Statement-Level Data
DS33: TIME Magazine, Story-Level Data
DS34: Candidates' Web Sites, Multiple Story-Level Data
DS35: Candidates' Web Sites, Statement-Level Data
DS36: Candidates' Web Sites, Story-Level Data
description: (1) The data are provided as an SPSS portable file.
 (2) This collection has not been processed by ICPSR staff. ICPSR is
 distributing the data and documentation for this collection in
 essentially the same form in which they were received. When
 appropriate, documentation has been converted to Portable Document
 Format (PDF), and data files have been converted to
 non-platform-specific formats. (3) The codebook is provided by ICPSR
 as a Portable Document Format (PDF) file. The PDF file format was
 developed by Adobe Systems Incorporated and can be accessed using PDF
 reader software, such as the Adobe Acrobat Reader. Information on how
 to obtain a copy of the Acrobat Reader is provided on the ICPSR Web
site.