The most effective way to reveal insights about a candidate’s messaging or how voters are feeling is to get in-the-moment feedback. Dialsmith has been helping political consultants, analysts, reporters and candidates for over three decades. Want more information about how to gain that competitive edge? Take a look through our political and public opinion resources below, or contact us for more information.
Political and Public Opinion Research Products and Solutions
Solutions by Dialsmith
Dial testing gives you access to real-time data that tells you what your audience is thinking and feeling in-the-moment. Tapping into these experiences as they happen uncovers critical “moments of truth” that drive deeper, more focused qualitative discussions and impactful results. Dialsmith provides best-in-industry dial testing solutions to researchers across various industries: media and entertainment, marketing and advertising, political and public policy, litigation, CPG and more.
Products by Dialsmith
Dialsmith develops, sells and supports the best-in-industry dial testing solutions for in-person (focus groups and live events) and online research (surveys, focus groups and communities). We also provide a full range of consulting services for both in-person and online dial testing focus groups.
Political and Public Opinion Research Resources
Webinar (On-Demand): Revelations in Moment-to-Moment Research
Seen on CNN, CNBC, Food Network as well as used behind the scenes by countless global research firms; used as standard practice for evaluating television programming and political messaging; relied upon to help elect every U.S. President since Ronald Reagan; critical in determining which ads air in the $4 million Super Bowl spots; a mainstay in helping lawyers prep for high-stakes court cases.
We’re talking about Moment-to-Moment research—the method of gathering and analyzing continuous audience feedback. This method is relied upon by researchers across a range of industries to understand how their audiences feel in-the-moment about what they’re seeing, hearing and experiencing.
We’ve gathered a trio of seasoned experts, all of whom have revealing stories to tell of their use of Moment-to-Moment and how it has impacted (and will impact) projects past, present and future. Join us as they share their insights, compare notes and respond to your questions about their experiences using this methodology.
Free eBook: Essentials of Moment-to-Moment Research
This eBook provides practical, field-tested advice, tips and insights from researchers who have been using the Moment-to-Moment methodology in their own consulting projects for years. It’s written as a helpful and easily reference-able resource to help the research community get the most out of the methodology and to address some of the most common questions we hear from clients.
Report: Portland’s Tech Professionals React to CES Keynote by Yahoo CEO & President Marissa Mayer
Yahoo made a big splash with the hiring of technology rock star Marissa Mayer. One of Mayer’s first tests as the face of Yahoo was the keynote address at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES). We organized a dial testing focus group of tech professionals from Portland, Oregon to rate Ms. Mayer and Yahoo’s performance.
DIAL.LOG Blog: Dissecting Race-Based Messaging in Political Ads with Dr. Charlton McIlwain
We recently got word of an intriguing use of our Perception Analyzer dials for political research being done by Dr. Charlton McIlwain, associate professor of media, culture and communication at New York University, and his colleague Dr. Stephen Maynord Caliendo, professor of political science at North Central College. The two have been studying the impact of race-based messaging in political ads for more than a decade and recently presented their latest findings, including the dial testing results, at the Midwest Political Science Association Conference. We chatted with Dr. McIlwain to learn more about what they were looking for from dial testing and the anticipated, and not-so-anticipated, insights they gained from the results.
DIAL.LOG Blog: New Tech, Same Methods for 2015 State of the Union
It’s always energizing to see our dials back in action during high stakes political events like on the broadcast coverage of last night’s State of the Union. And while some of the networks have traded their in-person dial groups for new second screen polling tools, the method employed to score and dissect the President’s address can be traced back to the use of our dials in CNN’s coverage of the 2008 Presidential debates. This is the same continuous, moment-to-moment method of gathering feedback that we, here at Dialsmith, have pioneered and facilitated through the development and support of our Perception Analyzer tools for more than 30 years.
DIAL.LOG Blog: Talking Politics & Message Testing with Glover Park Group’s Adam Slater
Adam Slater doesn’t mind talking politics; it’s one of the many things his job entails. Adam—now a director in the Research Division at DC–based The Glover Park Group (GPG)—was the director of research operations at Greenberg Quinlan Rosner (GQR) where he handled a boatload of political and public opinion research for the firm and for clients such as Democracy Corps. Adam’s background in government and political campaign consulting goes back more than 10 years. Here at Dialsmith, we got to know Adam through the dial testing work we did with him and GQR annually for the State of the Union Address and for high stakes political events such as the presidential debates.
Since the political season is upon us—albeit the mid-term election season—we figured the time was right to tap Adam for his insights on what’s new on the political message testing front and how research in this area has changed since he first got into it a decade ago.
DIAL.LOG Blog: Online Dial Testing & Debunking Political Digital Ad Myths
November is right around the corner, and the political ad season is ramping up. Question is, is this the year that digital video ads become a dominant part of campaign media strategy? A recent Campaigns and Elections article noted that in the 2012 election, even the Obama campaign which attributed much of its success to its digital strategy, only spent 8 percent of its media budget on digital. As comparison, consumer brand advertisers typically spend an average of 25 percent of their budgets on digital ads. So, why are political campaigners so late to the party when it comes to digital advertising? The Campaign and Elections article points out three commonly held myths that may be to blame. But there’s a fourth myth that the article fails to mention that’s also at play here and we’re familiar with it here at Dialsmith.
DIAL.LOG Blog: The Lines Are At It Again: Dialsmith’s Perception Analyzer Featured in Reporting of President’s State of the Union
You may have noticed those friendly lines (courtesy of The Perception Analyzer) showing up all over the place again last night and this morning as news networks and research groups studied, analyzed and reported the President’s State of the Union address. Yes, the Perception Analyzer was at it again with focus groups in key swing states across the country dialing in registered voters’ reactions to what the President had to say.
CNN’s Wolf Blitzer reported results from a dial group in Des Moines, Iowa run by Drs. Rita Kirk and Dan Schill who have used the Perception Analyzer with groups for CNN since 2008.
DIAL.LOG Blog: Behind CNN’s Colored Lines: Q&A with SMU Public Opinion Researcher Dan Schill
This past October, we published a blog post on the work that Rita Kirk, Ph.D. and Dan Schill, Ph.D. have done using our Perception Analyzer dials in their role as political research consultants for CNN. The two Southern Methodist University (SMU) researchers are the brains behind CNN’s focus groups of undecided voters whose real-time reactions to what the candidates said were front-and-center in CNN’s live coverage of the Presidential and Vice Presidential Debates. With the election now safely behind us, we were able to catch up with one of the SMU duo, Dan Schill, to reflect on his and Rita’s work with CNN and their experience with using the Perception Analyzer dials both in their CNN work and in additional research. Here are some highlights from our discussion.
CNN and Fox News Dial Testing
