Journal of Electoral Studies

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Home Issues Backissues Volume 31, No.1 On-line Information Processing and Its Application in Voting Behavior Research-An Analysis of U. S. Voting Behavior

On-line Information Processing and Its Application in Voting Behavior Research-An Analysis of U. S. Voting Behavior

Emile C. J. Sheng
2001 / 11
Volume 8, No.2

pp.31-64
10.6612/tjes.2001.08.02.31-64
Paper

Abstract

Most electoral studies emphasize the relationships among variables, but paid little attention to how voters process political information. Past studies based on experimental design concluded that the memory-based information processing model can not correctly describe how people process political information, and proposed on-line information processing model as a better alternative. This article discusses the on-line information processing model and its application in voting behavior research. The author also uses NES survey data to provide supplementary evidence to the experimental design findings on the on-line model. We found that the online information processing model is a more plausible model than the memory-based model. Therefore, we have to be careful in generalizing past results based on the memory-based models, and have to be especially careful when analyzing open-ended questionnaires. It is important for us to enhance our understanding of voter information processing to help construct better voting behavior models.

Keywords

information processing

voting behavior

on-line information processing

memory-based information processing

open-ended questions