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Franklin Pierce Polling:
Consistent with the Fitzwater
Center’s commitment to providing students with outstanding
educational experiences in professional environments,
Franklin Pierce student volunteers and interns have immersed
themselves in the political polling process during the 2008
New Hampshire Primary season.
The College has partnered with veteran political analyst R.
Kelly Myers to carry out a polling program that allows
students to participate in survey design, data collection,
analysis and media relations – all while working to create a
statistically-valid product with solid news value.
Dr. Myers, who has conducted polling through five New
Hampshire presidential primary seasons, is ready to go
through his sixth election cycle as a Senior Fellow in the
Fitzwater Center. Dr. Myers will also teach a political
polling course in the fall of 2007 as part of the Franklin
Pierce’s First in the Nation collaboration with Wartburg
College in Iowa.
The number of polls to be conducted during the primary
season will be determined by the pace of the primary itself.
The first polls were released in March 2007. A second set of
polls focused on the June presidential candidate debates.
Poll results are utilized by the media and are used to drive
Student Media Press Conferences and the Tuesday Briefing
programming at the Fitzwater Center
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The Polling Institute was
founded in 1999 and encourages student and community
involvement in the electoral and issue data gathering process.
During the 2000 New Hampshire Presidential Primary, Franklin
Pierce’s polling efforts gained national prominence with its
chronicling of Senator John McCain’s rise and eventual
double-digit victory in the Republican Primary.
Since then, the
Center has been conducting survey research on state and
national issues and campaigns. Recently, the Center launched a
new survey effort called the “Civic Polling Initiative (CPI)”.
CPI seeks to provide survey research to non-profit
organizations and municipalities in the Monadnock region. The
initial project partner is the Rindge 2020 project, a joint
collaborative between the Town of Rindge and Franklin Pierce
College.
Students engaged in this
initiative experience public opinion research at a grassroots
level and gain a rich understanding of civic engagement and
the political process. Their work is conducted in the
state-of-the-art technology facilities of the new Marlin
Fitzwater Center for Communication.
Press Releases on Polls
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