Influence of Newspaper Political Report in Voting Behaviour (a Case Study of Alimosho Lga Electoral)
CHAPTER ONE
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The objectives of the study are;
- To find out whether the newspaper political report induce a change in the electorates voting behavior
- To ascertain the relationship between newspaper political report and voting behavior
- To ascertain whether newspaper political report influence voting behavior
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
Voting behavior
Classical studies of voting behaviour have identified useful voting patterns which focus directly on individual voters. Authors who pioneered such approaches as sociology and economics to electoral analysis include Lazarsfeld, Berelson and Gaudet (1944). Some of the principles that they established subsequently became the foundation for the work of other authors. Although there are many commonalities between the various traditions, each tradition provides insights to respond to individual challenges (Carmines and Huckfeldt, 1996, p.224). The economic approach was used by Downs (1957), who analysed political apathy long before it became a serious topic of discussion. He argued that voters would not find it rational to participate in elections on the basis of self-interested motivation alone. Many political economists have supported this idea, but others have asserted that this view contradicts the evidence (Carmines and Huckfeldt, 1996). Accounting for these various approaches is beyond the scope of this essay, but the economic approach is found to be particularly helpful in this context. The “rational” economic factor explains the effect of media campaigns on politically active citizens who do not have strong partisan dispositions—“undecided” voters (Downs, 1957, 3). Generally, the remainder of the electorate is divided into two groups. In the first group, voters form their preferences on the basis of social or other associations. In the second group, voters simply abstain from basing their decisions on short-term economic self-interest. The undecided voters, who do not have deep convictions, will be open to media pressure with its constant messages of both direct “first-level” opinions and indirect “secondlevel” hints. The influence of the media will increase as the size of this group increases. First-level agenda setting, first advanced by Lippmann, refers to the way in which we form the “pictures in our heads”. The same thing at a second level is a relatively new idea which seeks to explain not only what we think about but also how we assess these thoughts (McCombs et al. 1997, p.703). Dalton and Wattenberg (1993) present another concept related to this issue. They assume that voters identify with their choice of party because they perceive that the party’s objectives are compatible with their own. Thus, for a large part of the electorate, the decision-making process becomes quite simple: they support the candidate(s) whose background is most similar to their own. Early work focusing on social groups was more applicable to Europe than to the United States. However, the basic framework for the various electorate groups in Europe and the US is the same; identification with a candidate/party can arise from social, religious, or regional cleavages. As a result, voting behaviour for this large segment of the population remains constant across elections. Classical sociological studies explain the political preferences of voters with respect to background. Without this perspective, these studies lack the ability to explain other profound motivations in detail. This failure to account for voter behaviour has produced other approaches, such as psychological and economic ones. Dalton et al. (1993) notes that social characteristics have limited value in providing a “catalyst” for the analysis of various issues which lack a “class referent”.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research design
The researcher used descriptive research survey design in building up this project work the choice of this research design was considered appropriate because of its advantages of identifying attributes of a large population from a group of individuals. The design was suitable for the study as the study sought to influence of Newspaper Political report in voting behaviour (A case study of Alimosho LGA Electoral)
Sources of data collection
Data were collected from two main sources namely:
(i)Primary source and
(ii)Secondary source
Primary source:
These are materials of statistical investigation which were collected by the research for a particular purpose. They can be obtained through a survey, observation questionnaire or as experiment; the researcher has adopted the questionnaire method for this study.
Secondary source:
These are data from textbook Journal handset etc. they arise as byproducts of the same other purposes. Example administration, various other unpublished works and write ups were also used.
Population of the study
Population of a study is a group of persons or aggregate items, things the researcher is interested in getting information on influence of Newspaper Political report in voting behaviour. 200 staff of selected newspaper in Alimosho LGA Electoral were selected randomly by the researcher as the population of the study.
CHAPTER FOUR
PRESENTATION ANALYSIS INTERPRETATION OF DATA
Introduction
Efforts will be made at this stage to present, analyze and interpret the data collected during the field survey. This presentation will be based on the responses from the completed questionnaires. The result of this exercise will be summarized in tabular forms for easy references and analysis. It will also show answers to questions relating to the research questions for this research study. The researcher employed simple percentage in the analysis.
DATA ANALYSIS
The data collected from the respondents were analyzed in tabular form with simple percentage for easy understanding.
A total of 133(one hundred and thirty three) questionnaires were distributed and 133 questionnaires were returned.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Introduction
It is important to ascertain that the objective of this study was to ascertain influence of Newspaper Political report in voting behaviour. In the preceding chapter, the relevant data collected for this study were presented, critically analyzed and appropriate interpretation given. In this chapter, certain recommendations made which in the opinion of the researcher will be of benefits in addressing the challenges of Newspaper Political report in voting behaviour
Summary
This study was on influence of Newspaper Political report in voting behaviour. Three objectives were raised which included: To find out whether the newspaper political report induce a change in the electorates voting behavior, to ascertain the relationship between newspaper political report and voting behavior and to ascertain whether newspaper political report influence voting behavior. In line with these objectives, two research hypotheses were formulated and two null hypotheses were posited. The total population for the study is 200 staff of selected newspaper in Alimosho LGA. The researcher used questionnaires as the instrument for the data collection. Descriptive Survey research design was adopted for this study. A total of 133 respondents made editors, marketers, senior staff and junior officers were used for the study. The data collected were presented in tables and analyzed using simple percentages and frequencies
Conclusion
The study’s findings in this regard fully supported ‘the more the voters score on the index of consumption of media political content, then the more likelihood of their political participation. ’Critical review of the respondents’ responses regarding the factors influencing their voting behavior revealed that candidate’s personality was the major factor in this connection. Other important factors include bradriism, ethnicity and party affiliation respectively while peer pressure and community leaders played no significant role in influencing the voters’ voting behavior. The critical analysis of the findings of the respondents, who did not cast their votes, revealed that the factors which abstained them from casting their votes included: mistrust on political system, threat of terrorist activities and the absence of any reasonable candidate respectively
References
- Almond, Gabriel A., and Sydney, Verbal (1963): The Civic Culture. Political Attitudes and Democracy in Five Nations: London, Sage Publications.
- Ansolabehere, S., Iyengar, S., Simon, A., Valentino, N. (1994) Does Attack Advertising Demobilise the Electorate? American Political Science Review 88(4) pp.829-38.
- Ansolabehere, Stephen and Iyengar, Shanto (1997): Going Negative, How Political Advertisements Shrink and Polarize the Electorate. New York, The Free Press.
- Bartels L.M (2008). The Study of Electoral Behavior. Department of Politics and Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University.
- Butler, David and Kavanagh, Dennis (1997): The British General Election of 1997. Basingstoke: Macmillan.
- Campbell, Angus, Converse, Philip E., Miller, Warren E., and Stokes, Donald E., (1960): The American Voter, New York: Wiley.
- Carmines, Edward G., and Huckfeldt, Robert (1996): Political Behaviour, An Overview, in: Goodin, Robert E. and Hans Dieter Klingemann (eds.): A New Handbook of Political Science. Oxford, Oxford University Press, pp. 223-54.
