Undertaken in conjunction with the 1976 presidential election, this study examined perceptions of Gerald R. Ford against conceptualizations of the ideal political candidate. Questionnaires were administered to 321 undergraduates (both Republicans and Democrats) in order to measure perceived credibility and homophily of the ideal candidate and of…

Studies focusing on televised presidential primary debates include four prespectives. From a historical perspective, televised presidential primary debates have increased slowly from 1956 through 1980. With the 1975 Federal Communications Commission ruling that independently sponsored campaign debates were news events exempt from "equal…

A study examined the evaluative structures employed by voters in making decisions about political contenders, specifically as a function of the level of the election involved and the incumbent-challenger status of the candidates. Data were obtained by questionnaires administered within two weeks prior to the 1984 general election to 550…

Drawing from political science, sociology, and communication literature, this paper provides a review of research dealing with political candidate image to show the various ways this concept has been treated by scholars. The paper begins with an examination of the rationales offered by researchers for the study of image, then addresses the…

A study utilizing source credibility and homophily as a basis for analysis was designed to examine the conceptualization of the ideal political candidate. In addition, this conceptualization was examined across selected voter characteristics to determine if it varied on that basis. Questionnaires were administered to 390 college students to…

A study was designed to investigate the consequences of various coding strategies on the semantic differential as a function of responses to an ideal source in the prediction of overall credibility and homophily. The study was also intended to provide additional evidence for the disconfirmation of the underlying extremity assumption of the…

Examines presidential primary debates from four perspectives: history, politics, public interest, and television. Argues that, to fulfill their potential for informed public discussion, debate sponsors must refine and adapt their formats to the television medium while still serving the interests of the public and the candidates. (JD)

A study was conducted to examine the evaluative criteria or schemata that voters use in making decisions about competing candidates. More specifically, the study sought to determine (1) whether the criteria that voters employ differ between the candidates, and (2) the relative importance of various candidate-specific criteria in the voting…