MCLEAN, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--To capture a comprehensive picture of the American electorate, USA TODAY, part of Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI), is launching a new project with Democracy Fund's Voter Study Group and UCLA based on data from Nationscape, one of the largest election focused public opinion surveys ever conducted. The Nationscape survey will interview people in nearly every county, congressional district, and mid-sized U.S. city in the leadup to the 2020 election.
The weekly survey was designed and is managed by UCLA political scientists Lynn Vavreck and Chris Tausanovitch. It is fielded by market research platform Lucid and will conduct more than 500,000 interviews leading up to the 2020 elections, shedding light on attitudes and issues as they take shape. The survey asks questions about more than 40 issues and policies every week – capturing Americans’ attitudes as well as how they prioritize those policies. The project’s unprecedented size will also allow for demographic and geographic deep-dives on groups that are typically too small to examine.
USA TODAY and Gannett’s network of local market reporters will access Nationscape Insights analyses on Americans’ opinions across the country to generate interactive stories that allow people to understand the issues where voters agree and disagree, and how those opinions are changing over time.
This morning, USA TODAY released findings from Nationscape, based on interviews with 31,508 people conducted in 2020, revealing that Democratic and Republican voters both agree on issues such as background checks for gun purchases and tax cuts for families making less than $100,000 per year, but remain split on a range of policy issues, including health care and building a wall on the U.S. southern border. Among likely Democratic primary voters, the two issues where there is most disagreement are abolishing private health insurance and Medicare for All. The results, including data analysis and a data visualization component, can be found at www.usatoday.com.
“The Nationscape project is important for helping Americans learn about the diverse perspectives different communities have on key issues, and we’re thrilled to be able to leverage our local footprint in newsrooms across the country for this important effort,” said Nicole Carroll, editor in chief of USA TODAY.
"In this high-stakes election year, voters and civic leaders need the illuminating power of the Nationscape survey to help ensure our politics and public debate are as informed and responsive as possible,” said Lauren Strayer, Managing Director of Communications and Network at Democracy Fund. “Nationscape’s unique ability to help us understand the perspectives of Americans at the local, regional, and national level is unprecedented.”
About USA TODAY
Founded in 1982, USA TODAY reflects the pulse of the nation, serving as host of the American conversation by delivering high-quality, engaging content through unique visual storytelling across all platforms. A media innovator, USA TODAY reaches more than 90M unique visitors each month across digital platforms, with more than 25 million downloads of our award-winning app. USA TODAY is owned by Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI).
About Democracy Fund Voter Study Group
The Democracy Fund Voter Study Group is a research collaboration of more than two dozen analysts and scholars from across the political spectrum. Created in the wake of the 2016 election, the Voter Study Group’s goal is to better understand the American electorate by examining and delivering insights on the evolving views of American voters. Research and analysis from Voter Study Group members can be found at www.voterstudygroup.org and on Twitter @democracyfund.
About UCLA
Consistently ranked as one of the world’s top public universities, UCLA is dedicated to research that improves our world, service that benefits our local and global communities, and teaching that offers a world-class education to exceptional students from all backgrounds, including the one-third of UCLA students who go on to become first-generation college graduates. Political Scientists Chris Tausanovitch (@ctausanovitch) and Lynn Vavreck (@vavreck) are the project leads at UCLA.
About Lucid
Lucid is a programmatic market research platform that provides access to authentic, first-party data in over 100 countries. Its products and services enable anyone, in any industry, to ask questions of targeted audiences and find the answers they need — fast. These human answers can be used to uncover consumer motivations, increase revenue, and measure the impact of digital advertising. Founded in 2010, Lucid is headquartered in New Orleans, Louisiana, with offices throughout the U.S., Europe, Asia, and Australia. Learn more about Lucid at www.luc.id or follow them on Twitter at @lucid_hq.
