Every two years, exit polls become the most widely analyzed, written about, and discussed data-set in the United States. Although exit polls are known for their use in predicting elections, they are in fact the best tool for explaining election results. Exit polls are taken from actual voters, whereas pre-election polls that tally people's intended votes tend to overstate the number of people who will actually go to the polls. Exit Polls: Surveying the American Electorate is a groundbreaking new reference work that explores for the first time the trends in longitudinal variables asked in the national Election Day exit polls from their beginning in 1972 to the present. The book documents comparable survey items that have appeared in multiple exit polls over time. Authors Samuel J. Best and Brian S. Krueger-both election commentators for CBS news and statistical experts-present more than 100 tables and 100 figures showing the changes in the American electorate and its voting patterns over time. This work represents the first time exit poll data has been combined to show trends over time. Chapter one: The Exit Poll Phenomenon provides a brief history of exit polls and chronicles how they evolved into their current arrangement. It explains how exit poll questions are developed, the sampling and weighting procedures used, the reporting protocols adopted, and the benefits and limitations of exit polls. Chapter two: Creating and Using Exit Poll Time Series describes how individual exit polls were compiled into a first of its kind cumulative data file and discusses the rationale for selecting specific survey items. The chapter explains the techniques used to merge the data and discusses the framework used to present the data in the subsequent chapters. Chapter three: Composition of Voters in Federal Elections focuses on changes in the demographic and ideological composition of the electorate over almost forty years, including gender, age, race, sexual orientation, education, income, religion, party membership, and military service. Chapter four: The Presidential Voting Preferences of the Active Electorate examines the presidential voting patterns of the various groups that make up the American electorate, from 1972 to 2010. Chapter five: The Congressional Voting Preferences of the Active Electorate examines the congressional voting patterns of the various groups that make up the American electorate from 1972 to 2010. Offering unique insight into the American electorate, this important new work is meant to serve novice and expert researchers alike. Libraries with holdings in American politics and government will want to acquire this one-of-a-kind resource.

""The Politics of Cultural Differences" is a major theoretical and empirical contribution to the scholarly study of presidential elections, one that will quickly challenge other, more traditional models of voting. It is also an important work of social science that connects with the practical world of politics. Political consultants and journalists will recognize in these pages the strategic behavior of political elites to manipulate the symbols of cultural politics and responses of citizens to those appeals. This masterful book has been dramatically narrowed the gulf between scholars and practitioners of campaigns and elections."--Thomas E. Mann, W. Averell Harriman Chair and Senior Fellow, The Brookings Institution

"The fragmentation of political society in the U.S. is a fascinating phenomenon and this is the best book I've seen on that topic. I read it carefully and learned a good deal by doing so. The authors cover a tremendous swath of material and do so in a convincing and authoritative way. Their defection/abstention approach is genuinely fresh and interesting, a major contribution to electoral studies. Because 'primary group affiliations' are so important to so many Americans, the book will tap into a natural, national curiosity (among both voters and journalists) about such matters."--Roderick P. Hart, University of Texas at Austin, author of "Campaign Talk"

""The Politics of Cultural Differences" could have a big impact in political science, pushing the field to devise new ways to see the impact of campaign appeals on individuals in American politics and encouraging a new kind of thoughtfulness about groups in American politics. The book made me think about bigquestions--the connections between thought and action and the role of idea-based and group-based appeals in American politics. The authors' interest in both defection and abstention is especially thought-provoking."--Nancy Burns, University of Michigan, author of "The Formation of American Local Government" and "The Private Roots of Public Action"

Designed for researchers and students alike, the volume describes how to perform each stage of the data collection process on the Internet, including sampling, instrument design, and administration. Through the use of non-technical prose and illustrations, it details the options available, describes potential dangers in choosing them, and provides guidelines for sidestepping them. In doing so, though, it does not simply reiterate the practices of traditional communication modes, but approaches the Internet as a unique medium that necessitates its own conventions.