Variables and Definitions
Dependent Variables
Types of Coverage - Measured by the number of mentions or "hits" in the different
types of media coverage
- Television Coverage
- CBS Evening News with Dan Rather
- NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw
- ABC Nightly News with Peter Jennings
- Fox News Special Report with Brit Hume
- PBS New Hours with Jim Lehrer
- CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports
- National Papers
- The New York Times
- The Los Angeles
- Local Papers
- The Telegraph Herald - Dubuque, Iowa
- The Post Courier - Charleston, South Carolina
- The Union Leader - Manchester, New Hampshire
Independent Variables
- Our Specific Group Variables
- Total Press Releases
- % of Image Press Releases
- % of Policy Press Releases
- % of Positive Press Releases
- % of Negative Press Releases
- Other Variables
- Days of the Week
*
- Monday
- Tuesday
- Wednesday
- Thursday
- Friday
- Saturday
- Sunday
- Number of Candidates in the Race on a Particular Day
- Number of Days
before the Iowa Caucuses
- If a Debate occurs on a Given Day
- The Day before the State of the
Union Address
- The Day of the State of the Union Address
- The Day after the State
of the Union Address
* In terms of Newspapers, the days of the week signified the next day
in the news cycle (Monday=Tuesday, Tuesday=Wednesday, etc). Television coverage
is represented by the specific day given (Monday=Monday).