Quizzes and Polls

Quizzes and polls are powerful tools to find out what your audience is thinking, test their perceptions or match them with a political candidate or ideology.

New York Times - Living Tag Cloud

http://nytimes.com/interactive/2008/11/04/us/politics/20081104_ELECTION_WORDTRAIN.HTML

Throughout Election Day, NYTimes.com readers submitted the words that best described their moods.

KQED (San Francisco) -You Decide

http://www.kqed.org/topics/news/perspectives/youdecide/

KQED’s “You Decide” invites users to become part of a debate through a critical exploration of social issues. How do you feel about Medicare? Same-sex marriage? Prayer in schools? “You Decide” asks the question then offers counter arguments to your response. See article.

TheState.com - Saving Columbia

http://www.thestateonline.com/news/flash/colaburns/cola_burn.html

As part of its Burning of Columbia special report, The State newspaper in Columbia, S.C., and TheState.com created a game that helped users track Gen. William T. Sherman’s ruinous march on the city 140 years ago. To save the city from burning, players must answer the quiz questions correctly. Each wrong answer engulfs a section of the city in flames.

KQED - Smart Growth Game

http://www.kqed.org/w/baywindow/homefront/game.html

KQED, San Francisco’s public television station, designed a city planning game that gives players five different decisions to make about how to develop their city. At the end of the game, it explains the impact of each choice and it scores players on how well-planned their cities are.

"Plan Your Future Park"

http://www.gothamgazette.com/parksgame/

New York City, NY—The Gotham Gazette’s newest interactive game, “Plan Your Future Park” lets you plan a city park, making choices that communities always have to face. Do you want dogs? Skateboarding? How will you prevent crime? In addition to selecting from “multiple choice” solutions, a message board allows users to communicate specific opinions and concerns. See article.

Spokane "Campaign 2003 Issues" Quiz

http://www.spokesmanreview.com/quiz/2003spocouncil.asp

The Spokane (WA) Spokesman-Review set up this selector to help visitors decide the Fall 2003 local mayor and council president races. Users choose the quotes they most agree with on a variety of issues, from law enforcement to business, and then find out which candidate they agree with on each issue.

Spokane "Campaign 2004 Democratic Issues" Quiz

http://www.spokesmanreview.com/quiz/2004democrats.asp

The Spokesman Review set up this electronic quiz to help voters identify which candidates they agree with most. First, 10 key issues were identified by surveying readers. Next, statements regarding these issues were gleaned from seven Democratic candidates, their names removed, and answers posted on the web site. At the end of the quiz users find out how often they agree with each candidate.

Lawrence (KS) City Commission Candidate Selector

http://etc.lawrence.com/candidateselector/

LJWorld.com introduces this candidate selector as “a fun and educational tool that can help you decide which candidates you agree with the most” in the local city commision race. You read through the candidates’ positions on issues such as budget cuts and tax abatement and select which ones you agree with the most. The selector then ranks the candidates based on how many of their statements you agreed with, and provides links to more information on each one.

Minnesota Public Radio - Select A Candidate

http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/2004/01/01_newsroom_selectapres/

By answering a series of questions about major issues, you can quickly learn which candidates are most closely aligned with your views. You’ll be able to learn more about each candidate, hear his/her positions on many issues, and find out how your results compare with those of others who take the survey. They also did this project for 2006.

WBUR-FM and Online NewsHour - Vote by Issue Quiz

http://www.votebyissue.org/election2006/

WBUR-FM has teamed up with a national partner, The Online NewsHour, to adapt the station’s Vote by Issues Quiz that was developed for last year’s governor’s race, to the Democratic presidential primaries. “We had the tool and [The NewsHour] had the clout to get candidates to fill it out” with their position statements, said Robin Lubbock, WBUR’s Director of New Media. Together, the partners came up with the list of issues. Other stations, including New Hampshire Public Radio, are linking to the exercise.

Washingtonpost.com - Veep-O-Matic 2004

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/elections/2004/veepomatic.htm

This exercise invites people to select from 16 different criteria the five qualities—such as military service or congressional experience—they would most like to see in a Democratic vice presidential candidate. Then it matches those choices with possible candidates to be John Kerry’s running mate. It provides lists of any of the candidates’ names and turns up biographical history, including past actions that could help or hinder their selection.

The Pew Research Center for The People & The Press - Beyond Red vs. Blue

http://typology.people-press.org/

There is more than just right and left on the political spectrum. Find out where you fit among social conservatives, liberals, conservative democrats, upbeats, disaffecteds and more. The Pew Research Center put together this set of 25 questions about where you stand on key political issues to tell you which of nine political typology groups you fit into. See the descriptions and demographics for your typology and others, on what issues they differ most from the general population and how each voted in the 2004 election.

MSNBC.com - The Big Picture: Campaign Adviser

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6268738/

MSNBC.com continues “The Big Picture” series with a feature that allows users to take on the role of a presidential campaign adviser. Pick a candidate, choose your issues, decide your battleground states and produce a 30-second campaign ad. Once finished, users message one other about strategy choices or use their ads to get people to vote for their candidate in MSNBC.com’s poll.

The Morning Call - News Widgets

http://www.mcall.com/all-pres-widgetlist,0,3165119.htmlstory

The Morning Call believes itself to be the first newspaper in the country to develop widgets that can be embedded in other web sites to allow users to search the newspaper’s databases without needing to visit to the paper’s web site. The widgets allow users to search databases of regional kennels and inspection reports, of outdoor calendar activities and presidential poll results.

Denver Post Politics Game: Pick the Ticket

http://www.castingballots.com/

The Denver Post and Politics West have created a game that allows you to choose who appears on the presidential election ballot. Pick the presidential and vice-presidential candidates for both parties, cast your vote and see how your ballot compares to others. Then take a look at the top tickets and overall top candidates.

LATimes.com - Text your election picks

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-votersguide-picker,0,7763401.htmlstory

The Los Angeles Times is providing a way to remember your ballot selections when you get to the election booth. Simply read up on the issues, then use this site to make your selections. You can then text or email yourself the guide to take with you to the polls.

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