Learning More from Political Communication Experiments: Pretreatment and Its Effects

• Published in: American journal of political science Vol. 56; no. 4; pp. 875 - 896
• Main Authors: Druckman, James N., Leeper, Thomas J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Malden, USA Blackwell Publishing Inc 01.10.2012; Wiley Subscription Services; Blackwell Publishing Ltd
• Subjects: Attitude strength; Casinos; Civil liberties; Communication; Economic surveys; Experimental methods; Experiments; Framing effects; General Public; Identification; Patriot Act; Political behaviour; Political campaigns; Political Communication; Political influences; Political opinions; Political science; Political science research; Polls; Pretreatment; Terrorism

Research on political communication effects has enjoyed great progress over the past 25 years. A key ingredient underlying these advances is the increased usage of experiments that demonstrate how communications influence opinions and behaviors. Virtually all of these studies pay scant attention to...