Survey Research Methods  The study of voting behavior generally
relies on information from sample surveys. Aggregate election
statistics from states or counties, another common type of
election data, are useful for examining the patterns of election
results, such as differences in the presidential vote among the
fifty states, but such data are not suitable for an analysis
that focuses on the individual voter. In order to investigate
the factors that affect how people vote, we need information on
individuals. Such information commonly includes data on voting
behavior, attitudes and beliefs, personal characteristics, and
so on. Since it is impractical to obtain this information for
each member of the electorate, the common procedure is to draw a
sample of people from the population and interview these
individuals. Once collected, survey data are usually processed
and stored in a form allowing for computer-assisted data
analysis. This data analysis generally focuses on describing and
explaining patterns of polit