Political Communication at Work

Bradley University’s Department of Communication is participating in a nationwide election research project.

Students were asked to rate each candidate following the three presidential debates.

“College age students were more likely to vote for Clinton,” says Dr. Anji Phillips, Assistant Professor of Television Arts in the Department of Communications at Bradley University.  She says Trump’s numbers stayed pretty much the same following each debate.

Participants were asked to evaluate candidates using a “feeling thermometer” from 0-100.  

Twenty-five of the 1,800 students who were part of the study are from Bradley.

“The student value really came from being part of a larger group,” says Phillips.

Phillips says this study also reveals information about this election’s negative rhetoric.

“What we know now is campaign advertising does work, positive advertising does work. But negative advertising works better,” explains Phillips.

Students from Bradley and 11 other colleges and universities from each region of the country were surveyed.