Research

Barron to discuss election, polls during WPSU’s ‘Digging Deeper’ on Nov. 6

WPSU Penn State's "Digging Deeper: The Mood of the Nation" will premiere at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 6. Creative Commons license Credit: Erik Hersman/Creative Commons. All Rights Reserved.

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State President Eric. J. Barron and local experts will discuss what a new poll reveals about the U.S. electorate during the next episode of WPSU Penn State’s “Digging Deeper” on Sunday, Nov. 6.  

WPSU’s “Digging Deeper: The Mood of the Nation” will air at 11:30 a.m. and 6 p.m. on Nov. 6 on WPSU-TV, and at 8 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 10, on WPSU-FM. Barron will welcome Eric Plutzer, director of the McCourtney Mood of the Nation Poll, and Michael Berkman, director of the McCourtney Institute for Democracy in Penn State’s College of the Liberal Arts, to discuss the poll and its key findings.

The McCourtney Institute Mood of the Nation Poll is a new periodic scientific poll that sampled 1,000 people using open-ended questions. The respondents were asked about what made them angry, proud, ashamed and hopeful regarding American politics and news coverage. The poll was pre-tested in January and February, and was administered in June, September and October.

Berkman and Plutzer, both of whom are Penn State professors of political science, will share some of the poll’s findings, including voters’ extreme polarization and pessimistic outlook. The McCourtney Institute for Democracy was founded in 2012 as an interdisciplinary center for research, teaching and outreach on issues of democracy.

A new episode of “Digging Deeper” will air each month during the academic year. Visit the “Digging Deeper” website for more information and to watched archived episodes. 

Last Updated October 28, 2016

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