niko elsen honors dissertation final for web

7/31/2019 Niko Elsen Honors Dissertation Final for Web

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I wouldnt chuck this out!Applying Infographic Design and

Information Shortcuts to LocalElection Candidate Booklets

By Dominik Peter Niko Elsen

A dissertation submitted for the degree of

Bachelor of Arts (Honours)

At the University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand

15th October 2010

Word Count: 15, 628


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UNIVERSITY OF OTAGO

DEPARTMENT OF POLITICS

PLAGIARISM DECLARATION FORM

Name: Dominik Peter Niko Elsen

ID Number: 1614631

I certify that this dissertation does not incorporate without acknowledgement

any material previously submitted for a degree or diploma in any university;

and that to the best of my knowledge and belief it does not contain any

material previously published or written by another person except where due

reference is made in the text.

Signed: ___________________ Date: 12 October, 2012


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Abstract

With close to half of all eligible voters choosing not to vote in local elections,

the modern campaign is clearly failing in its role of exciting and informing

people in their civic participation. Preliminary research suggests that a lack of

voter information is most often cited as the main reason for not voting in New

Zealand local government elections. Electoral authorities currently provide

one policy that seeks to alleviate this perceived shortage of information;

namely the candidate information booklet that is delivered with postal ballot

papers. However, results as to the usefulness of this booklet have been

mixed. This dissertation aims to ascertain what kind of information voters

find useful in local election candidate booklets, and further ask how thesebooklets might be improved. To do this, this research tests theories of voter

information shortcuts as well as information design theories, by producing

and testing an alternative infographic booklet with focus groups of voters.

Ultimately, this dissertation contends that in order for voters to find a

candidate booklet useful, electoral authorities need to consider not only the

quantity of information but also the quality and accessibility of information.


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Table of Contents

Abstract .................................................................................................................. ii

List of figures ......................................................................................................... 5

Introduction .................................................................................................... 6!

Chapter 1: Understanding Voter Information ........................................... 10!Candidate Information Booklets: the perfect touchpoint? .............................. 11How voters use information to decide in politics ............................................. 16The Power of Infographics and Visualised Information ................................... 22Examples of political infographics in action ..................................................... 26Summary ............................................................................................................... 30

Chapter 2: Qualitative Research Methodology ......................................... 31!Why use qualitative methods? ........................................................................... 31Dunedin as a case Study .................................................................................... 32Focus Group Composition and Organisation ................................................... 34Development of the Infographic Candidate Booklet Prototype ...................... 37General Information............................................................................................. 38

General Information ........................................................................................... 40!Political Shape ................................................................................................... 41!Timeline.............................................................................................................. 42!Issues Section .................................................................................................... 42!

Summary ............................................................................................................... 45

Chapter 3: What makes a Voter Information Booklet Useful? Voters

Perspectives. ............................................................................................... 46!Accessibility The current Candidate Information Booklet ............................ 46Quality The current Candidate Information Booklet ...................................... 47Quantity The current Candidate Information Booklet .................................... 49Accessibility- The Infographic Booklet ............................................................. 49Quality- The Infographic Booklet ....................................................................... 52Quantity- The Infographic Booklet ..................................................................... 55Discussions of Results ....................................................................................... 56

Conclusion ................................................................................................. 622!

Bibliography ................................................................................................. 65!Appendix ...................................................................................................... 70!


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List of Figures

Figure 1 An example of the candidate booklet used in New Zealand. ........... 11

Figure 2 the layout of elements in the current booklet. .................................. 10Figure 3 Two examples of Voter Guides used in California Elections. .......... 12

Figure 4 Infographic priorities by application. ................................................ 23

Figure 5 Left vs. Right Political Infographic ................................................... 27

Figure 6 a screen shot taken of the New York Times' website. ..................... 26

Figure 7 An example of the SmartSpider in use at euprofiler.org.eu ............. 27

Figure 8 The SmartSpider used in compariso newspaper "Der Bund" .......... 30

Figure 9 The general information section of a candidate ............................... 40Figure 10 The political shape section ............................................................ 41

Figure 11 The timeline section ....................................................................... 42

Figure 12 The issues sections divided into past and future issues ................ 43

Figure 13 The front cover of the Infographic Booklet ..................................... 42

Figure 14 The full profile of as a page in the Infographic Booklet....42

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Introduction

Democracy asks two things of its citizens in an election. The first is to vote.

The second is to be well informed when making that vote.1 Local democracys

big problem however is that its citizens are responding to neither demand.

There are two alarming trends the world over which plague the elections of

our cities and towns voter turnout in local elections is in decline, 2 and voters

who are unsure, misinformed or uncertain with their vote are on the rise.3

While many factors, such as disinterest and apathy explain some parts of

these trends, one factor in particular lies at the heart of both issues; and that is

a lack of information.

Numerous studies have shown that there is a strong link between the level of

information a voter feels they have in local elections and their likelihood of

voting.4 This is because some voters feel that a lack of information makes their

vote pointless and that it is better to abstain from voting altogether.5 A lack of

information in this sense can mean anything from perceived lack of adequate

media coverage, a negative perception of the candidates and the city council,

a lack of political parties and even the way information is presented and

organized. 6 In contrast, for most general or national elections however,

information is not a problem. Thanks to the mass media, the mediatisation7 of

elections and the 24-hour news cycle, most sizable elections avoid the

democratic dilemma of voter information8 as citizens are able to rely on the

inescapable bits of knowledge that mass campaigns bring. Local elections,

however, have no such popular coverage and thus citizens are left without

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1 R.A. Dahl, Democracy and its Critics (Yale Univ Pr, 1989).2 A.K. Karnig and B.O. Walter, "DECLINE IN MUNICIPAL VOTER TURNOUT A Function ofChanging Structure," American Politics Research 11, no. 4 (1983).3 I. Somin, "Voter ignorance and the democratic ideal," Critical Review 12, no. 4 (1998).4 T.R. Palfrey and K.T. Poole, "The relationship between information, ideology, and voting

behavior," American Journal of Political Science (1987). V. Larcinese, "Does political knowledgeincrease turnout? evidence from the 1997 british general election," Public Choice 131, no. 3(2007).5 P Harris, . Parackal, M., Rudd, C. & Williams, J., "Reflections on engagement in an evolvingpolitical process: Evidence from Aotearoa, the Land of the Long White Cloud," in 3rdInternational Political Marketing Conference 2006 (2006).6 Josh Hercus, "To Vote or Not to Vote: Students Perceptions and Attitudes TowardsNational and Local Elections in New Zealand" (University of Otago, 2011), 66.7 D.N. Hopmann and R. Zeh, "Mediatisation of Politics or Political context? Explaining

Changes in Twenty Years of Televised Election Campaign Coverage" (2011).8See A. Lupia and M.D. McCubbins, The democratic dilemma: Can citizens learn what they need toknow? (Cambridge Univ Pr, 1998).


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the very information standards they have come to rely on or in other words

there are no sound bites, montage moments, or trending topics on twitter.

Nowhere is this more apparent than in New Zealand local elections, where a

lack of information is the most common reason that citizens choose not to

vote.9 Other reasons such as efficacy and parental influences have an effect

also,10 but in terms of the most prominent explanation, a lack of information

appears to make up a significant proportion of local democracys failings.

This is not to say local election campaigns do not provide any useful

information; a vast range of communications from town hall debates to

leafleting and door knocking exist in largely the same form as they have since

the 1950s. With the arrival of the information age, however, votersexpectations have changed. Information quantity is no longer of central focus

but rather the quality, (how useful it is) and accessibility (how we receive it) are

increasingly important.11

Election authorities in New Zealand, however, acknowledge many of these

problems and even attempt to compensate voters by providing the Local

Election Candidate Information Booklet that is delivered with postal ballot

papers. This booklet has a position in local election campaigns that is

interesting for a number of salient reasons, not least because of the weighty

democratic problem it has come to bare. In local elections these booklets are

often the last if not the only touchpoint, that citizens receive as they make

their choice. Branded as an official document, the contents allow voters to

view a short written statement and photo of every candidate. Their function

appears like many other tools used in 21st century information campaigns; to

synthesise and emphasise the important information from extraneousrhetoric. However the problem remains that although their position at the

point of need12 is clearly valuable, the actual information they deliver is seen

by a significant proportion of voters and non-voters alike as, not useful in

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!9 E. Cavana, Mcmillen, P., Palmer, S.,, "2004 Local Council Post-Election Survey Summary ofFindings " (2004).10 Hercus, "To Vote or Not to Vote: Students Perceptions and Attitudes Towards Nationaland Local Elections in New Zealand."11 B. Smith, S. Laskowski, and S. Lowry, "Implications of Graphics on Usability and

Accessibility for the Voter," E-Voting and Identity (2009).12 D. Moon, "What You Use Depends on What You Have," American Politics Research 18, no. 1(1990).


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deciding who to vote for.13 The contents, style and format of candidate

booklets are seen as inaccessible and at worst, more of a hindrance than a

help.14

With these considerations in mind, this dissertation will seek to explore

further whether Local Election Candidate Information Booklets are fulfilling

their purpose as well as they could. And if not, how could they be improved?

Central to answering these questions will be a firm understanding of what

voters consider as useful in making an informed choice. Chapter 1 will refer

to a wide scope of literature and theory not only from political science but

also from information design. First, it will look at existing candidate

information booklets, and weigh up whether other studies have found themuseful for voters. Second, it will look at the theories behind voter information

in elections, and ask how voters use information in making a choice. Third, it

will look more holistically at what makes information useful from an user-

centric design perspective is quantity of information enough or does the

quality and accessibility of information need to be considered also? Using

these three angles of research, chapter 2 will then define a framework for

testing more specifically voters preferences and information needs. This will

include the development of an alternative booklet, designed using

information graphics or infographics to capture a number of themes found

in the theory. This alternative booklet will then be tested against the current

candidate information booklets, with the use of focus groups. Chapter 4 will

subsequently present the results of the focus group discussions before the

conclusions of this research.

An important point to acknowledge from the outset is that this study does notaim to argue for any silver bullet solution to all the democratic and

information related problems mentioned above. Numerous studies unpick

the fact that apathy and low voter turnout are complex problems with

multiple causes. Rather it is under a more contributory guise that this study

seeks to make progress and initiate discussion surrounding the role that

candidate booklets could play. In New Zealand, candidate information

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!13

Cavana, "2004 Local Council Post-Election Survey Summary of Findings " 15.14 J.A. Scholte, "Civil society and democratically accountable global governance," Governmentand Opposition 39, no. 2 (2004): 227.


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booklets, also known as voter information pamphlets, or simply candidate

statements, currently have their format and contents strictly controlled by

statute. Candidates enter a statement and photo either online or in person

with the Electoral Commission centrally developing booklets to be sent out

across the nation. The booklets contain the same format but with separate

content specific to local areas.15 For the purposes of this study, reference will

be made to the Dunedin City Council candidate information and to Dunedin

voters as this allows the research to remain applied to real world perceptions

while manageable. Using a case study such as this, will allow this research to

generalise more broadly about the use of candidate booklets in New Zealand

local government elections, and most importantly how they could fulfil their

potential. In this sense it will argue that the function of this informationshould be held to a high bar. If authorities are willing to fund, collate, print

and distribute an official resource, then its contribution to voters engagement

should be more than perfunctory; and at the very least be able to match

voters contemporary needs.

Thus, this study sees the candidate information booklets, distributed for local

government elections in New Zealand, as an opportunity not only to fill a

gap16 in voter information but also to use that gap as a foothold in moving

Local Election Voter Information forward. If voters remain uninspired and by

implication uniformed when participating in these elections, it calls into

question not only the legitimacy of an elected local government but also the

democratic connection between citizens and their electoral choices.17

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!15 Local Government New Zealand, "Making a stand mad easy- A candidate's guide to localgovernment," (2010).16 L. Brantgrde, "The information gap and municipal politics in Sweden," Communication

research 10, no. 3 (1983).17 S. Young, "Vancouver's informed electorate: Voter knowledge in the 2005 municipalelection," (2006): 1.


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Chapter 1: Understanding Voter Information

Many voters, and indeed non-voters see voter information in local elections,

as insufficient.18 One source in particular, the candidate information booklet,

is produced in response to this lack of information and yet it is rarely read19

and perceived by many voters as not useful. 20 The existing research

suggests three broad areas of relevance when understanding how candidate

booklets might be improved. The first group of existing literature looks

specifically at the role that voter information booklets currently play and

defines what makes them both an informational laggard but also a potential

area of strength. The second group of literature draws on theories from within

political science and describes the way in which voters decide who to vote forin elections. In particular it looks at the role of information in producing an

informed choice and draws from economic theory and behavioural

psychology in defining how voters deal with uncertainty around elections.

The third group of literature comes from information design and information

processing more generally and looks at a recent phenomenon tied to the

development of the information age known as infographic and visualised

information.

This chapter seeks to form a holistic overview of how voter information

works from a voters end-user perspective and in doing so tie together a

number of previously unconnected research areas; namely political science

and information design. When placed together these parts can be seen to

build a specialised understanding of not only how information in elections

currently works but also how it might adapt most effectively in an

information environment that has fundamentally evolved in the last 20 years.Ultimately it will be argued that because of the way that most voters use

information, voter booklets should have the potential to help overcome a

number of problems with modern democracy but that they must be

reconceptualised in a way that matches how people currently understand

complex information in the 21st century infographics and visualisations.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!18 Cavana, "2004 Local Council Post-Election Survey Summary of Findings ".19 D Magelby, ""Voter Pamphlets: Understanding Why Voters Don't Read Them," " in

American Politica ( American Political Science Association,New York, September 1981. ).20 Cavana, "2004 Local Council Post-Election Survey Summary of Findings ".


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Voter pamphlets are publicly funded and disseminated publications that

provide the recipients with an array of information on the candidates and the

election processes.23 In many nation and state jurisdictions, including New

Zealand, voter pamphlets and particularly those sent by mail with ballot

papers, have their content and format regulated by statute24. Most examples

are relatively uniform and require a name, recent photograph and candidate

statement of between 150 and 300 words (see fig. 2).

Some electoral practices such as in Utah25 and Oregon26 in the United States

however require candidates to respond to more restrictive and specific pieces

of information such as age, occupation, qualifications and contact

information27.

In this way voter pamphlets can be an accurate frame of both biographical

and policy based information that links into an ability to pick up on shortcuts

and heuristics (a topic explored in the following section).28 Brien supports this

view and claims Well-designed and well-written candidate voter pamphlets

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!23 P. Brien, "Voter Pamphlets: The Next Best Step in Election Reform,"J. Legis. 28(2002): 88.24 See Parliamentary Counsel Office, "Local Electoral Act 2001 section 61 Candidate profilestatements," (2001).25 Utah Code ANN. 20A-&-702(2)(f) (2001)26

OR. REV Stat. 251.026(3)(a) (1999)27 Brien, "Voter Pamphlets: The Next Best Step in Election Reform," 92.28 Moon, "What You Use Depends on What You Have," 20.

Figure 2 the layout of elements in the current booklet


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would seem to bestride the narrow information spectrum like a Colossus.29

He backs this up with a range of data from the various American states that

endorse the high use of candidate booklets:

1. Voters are highly likely to read the voter pamphlets- an average of 87% of

Utahns read all or part of the pamphlet in the elections from 1980-1992

2. Voter pamphlets are overwhelmingly viewed as valuable- a 1998 survey of

Californian voters found that they considered voter pamphlets issued by the

state to be their most important source of election information.

However, the value of voter pamphlets has not been without its critics also.

Cronin,30

Leib31

and Magleby32

claim that voters dont read them andvoters dont use them. More recently Young finds that pamphlets fail to

keep up with modern information needs and language.33 In his 2005 study

of Vancouvers Municipal Voters, Young made an important distinction

between what voters say in surveys and what voters actually do in practise.

Although a popular desire exists to have easier access to this information in

electoral surveys regression analysis reveals that consultation had no

statistically significant impact on levels of voter knowledge. Some respondents

admitted that they flicked through but usually did not read further.34

Furthermore during focus groups of local (Dunedin) student voting

perceptions, Hercus finds that:

The booklet was negatively perceived by some of the participants, who felt that

the blurbs lacked meaningful information and were presented in a boringmanner.35

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!29 Brien, "Voter Pamphlets: The Next Best Step in Election Reform," 110.30 T.E. Cronin, Direct democracy: The politics of initiative, referendum, and recall (HarvardUniversity Press Cambridge, MA, 1989).31 E.J. Leib, Deliberative Democracy in America: A Proposal for a Popular Branch of Government(Pennsylvania State University Press, 2004). 17.32 Magelby, ""Voter Pamphlets: Understanding Why Voters Don't Read Them," ".33 Young, "Vancouver's informed electorate: Voter knowledge in the 2005 municipal election,"38.34

Ibid., 39.35 Hercus, "To Vote or Not to Vote: Students Perceptions and Attitudes Towards Nationaland Local Elections in New Zealand."


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10While these findings are far from a conclusive rejection of candidate

booklets, it must be noted that the mixed nature of these findings suggests

that voters, while encouraging of the idea of booklets, also appear sceptical

about how useful they are and how they are presented.

In a similar vein, a number of studies also point to a strong demand for

information like voter pamphlets but with easier accessibility. In seeking an

answer to the question What do voters need to know? Bedolla and

Michelson look at the use of Easy Voter Guides(see fig. 3) in municipal

elections and find that guides that are carefully designed to reduce the effort

of voting can affect both voter turnout and voter certainty.36 Clark, Wold and

Mayeri found that one such guide in California known as the Easy ReadingVoter Guide increased turnout rates from an expected 35% to more than

70%.37 Similarly Addonizio found that providing young people with user

friendly yet detailed information linking election issues to youth issues

increased participation by 24%38

What is interesting to note from these studies is the demographics of theparticipants. Both Young and Hercus find a negative association with plain

candidate booklets from highly educated voters and younger voters.

Conversely, Clark et al. find that both citizens from low income backgrounds

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!36 L. Garcia Bedolla and M.R. Michelson, "What Do Voters Need to Know?," American PoliticsResearch 37, no. 2 (2009).37 S. S. Clark, Wold, M., & Mayeri, H. , "The key to community voter involvement project: Fall1996 election study," (San Jose California: Key to Community Voter Involvement Project,

1997).38 E. Addonizio, "A social approach to voter mobilization and election day," UnpublishedManuscript. Institution for Social and Policy Studies, Yale University (2006).

Figure 3 Two examples of Voter Guides used in California Elections


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with poor literacy skills and citizens with higher education with full time high

salary employment responded most positively to the Easy Voter Guide.

The key to this broad appeal seemed to stem from not so much what was

provided but how it was displayed. Clark notes the laymans language the

easy-to-skim layout with large type, colour and photos, basic definitions and

background information made for a quick and easy use.39 Youngs findings

explain why voters might prefer this ease of use and in particular why

educated voters would not be interested in using the more comprehensive

written pamphlets:

as education level increases, so does the opportunity cost of not only casting a

vote but also of investing substantial amounts of time, effort, and money toinform ones electoral choices.40

Movius goes even further and finds a number of specific elements from

within an information guide that young student voters do find useful.

Candidate information must be brief and to the point Participants are less likely to engage in communication in a

visually unappealing format.

Participants want neutral information about an issue. Candidate statements, blurbs and descriptions are disliked and

considered staged across multiple formats.

Marketing of online or deeper interactive communications is essential;voters will not seek it out. 41

Whether or not candidate statements and information booklets in theircurrent form are effective is clearly a point of disagreement in the literature.

What does seem to be clear however is that certain demographics,

particularly younger and more educated voters appear more disgruntled with

the informations lack of appeal.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!39 Clark, "The key to community voter involvement project: Fall 1996 election study."40 Young, "Vancouver's informed electorate: Voter knowledge in the 2005 municipal election."41

L. B. Movius, "New Technologies and Political Communication: A Case Study of a LocalElection Campaign," in annual meeting of the NCA 94th Annual Convention (San Diego: CAOnline, 2008), 16.


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Although no studies were found that looked specifically at improving

candidate information booklets, a small group of related researchers has

looked more generally at which categories or types of information voters would

prefer to be provided with across websites, community questionnaires and

newspaper features. Graber states that voters principally want to know how

the candidates differ and how their governance will effect both society and

the individual.42 In posing the question what do voters want from political

candidate information? Nicholson finds five types of information that are of

particular relevance to voters expectations, including: biographical

information, political information, monetary donations, issue information and

volunteering or event opportunities.43 Similarly Lipsitz finds both through a

mixture of survey and focus group questions that people are equally, if notmore, interested in getting a sense of the candidate as a person than learning

about his or her stands on the issues.44 He also finds that when participants

were asked to rank what kinds of information they would want in a[n

information] document45 they picked general information (such as name,

photo, age and hometown) their highest interest and candidate voting record

second. While these categories provided by Lipsitz and Nicholson are not

specifically related to local elections or candidate booklets as such, they still

add weight and insight into understanding voters clear demands and needs.

How voters use information to decide in politics

Crucial to understanding what voters want to know is an appreciation for how

voters use information in making a choice. Traditionally political scientists

assumed that in an liberal democracy, citizens would themselves research or

gather relevant information, take it in, understand the issues, weigh up the

choices and on balance make an informed choice.46 As one local councillor put

it it is the duty of people to be informed to look through the newspaper,

the pamphlets, the minutes and the websites and have a look at what

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!42 D. Graber, "Mass Media and American Politics (Washington, DC: CongressionalQuarterly)," (Inc, 1997), 333.43 S.S. Nicholson, "What Voters Want From Official Political Candidate Websites"(Georgetown University, 2008).44 K. Lipsitz et al., "What voters want from political campaign communication," Political

Communication 22, no. 3 (2005).45 Ibid.46 A. Downs, An economic theory of democracy (Harper, 1957). 207.


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people are standing for.47 In reality however this level of encyclopaedic

research48 rarely transpires. While as Popkin admits there are some who

find politics so fascinating that they inform themselves most however

simply do not devote much time and energy directly to their vote.49

While at its surface an unwillingness to research your vote might seem

simply lazy to some, there are strong explanations from the fields of

behavioural psychology and economic choice theory why this is so. They

propose that an unwillingness to vote is linked to a form of choice anxiety

and carries what researchers call a high cognitive cost. This view is related

strongly to a particular research perspective that is often used in the study of

political science known as rational choice. In sort, rational choice draws ona group of economic theorists from the end of the 1950s who centre on

applying an economic theory to how voters and politicians behave- namely as

utility maximisers.50

Perhaps the most important of these theorists was Anthony Downs, who,

amongst other points, focused strongly on the link between political

behaviour and uncertainty an element that surrounds decision making and

in particular choice during elections. Downs claimed that most uncertainty is

removable through the acquisition of information if sufficient quantity of data

is available and that the more information a decision maker acquires the

more confident of making the right decision he becomes51 a feature, that

could be argued, is tied directly to the strength of a democracy. However as

Downs highlights information is only obtainable at a cost.52 This cost may

involve some tangible financial costs in terms of the access to paid media and

experts but for the most part refers to the time used for assimilating data and

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!47 Interview with Michael Guest in Dominik Elsen, "Where do voters get there information inNew Zealand local body elections," in Unpublished Research Report, Department of Politics(Dunedin: Otago University, 2010), 25.48 A. Lupia, "Shortcuts versus encyclopedias: Information and voting behavior in Californiainsurance reform elections," American Political Science Review (1994).49 B. Grofman, Information, Participation, and Choice: An Economic Theory of Democracy inPerspective (University of Michigan Press, 1995). 17.50 For a more in-depth description of Rational Choice Theory see A.S. Edlin et al., Voting as arational choice: why and how people vote to improve the well-being of others (National Bureau of

Economic Research, 2007).51 Downs, An economic theory of democracy: 77-78.52 Ibid., 207.


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weighing alternatives leading up to a decision.53 This in part leads Downs to

conclude that theoretically it is more rational for voters to abstain rather than

become truly informed before making a choice. But he then explains this by

exploring how voters actively overcome the cognitive cost of being

informed54 in a process known as information shortcuts a theme which is

discussed further by Lupia, Popkin and others.55

An important aspect of understanding information shortcuts is that the term

does not attempt to describe a voter with blank political knowledge

shortcutting their way to an arbitrary decision, but rather that a voter uses

such a shortcut to tie together existing free knowledge with a relevant

choice.56 In this way voters draw on political information that is acquired-for free- as a by-product of activities they pursue as part of their daily

lives.57 This may lead them to be micro experts on certain areas and from

certain perspectives but for most there are large gaps in their knowledge

about government and politics. To overcome the limitations of their

knowledge, voters use shortcuts.58

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!53 Ibid., 209.54 See ibid. Pages 220-23755 See ibid.56 S. Banducci et al., "Candidate appearance cues in low-information elections" (2003); L.M.Bartels, "Uninformed votes: Information effects in presidential elections," American Journal ofPolitical Science (1996); F. Buckley, N. Collins, and T. Reidy, "Ballot Paper Photographs and

LowInformation Elections in Ireland," Politics 27, no. 3 (2007); Grofman, Information,Participation, and Choice: An Economic Theory of Democracy in Perspective; H.T. Himmelweit etal., "How voters decide: A longitudinal study of political attitudes and voting extending overfifteen years," European monographs in social psychology (1981); S.B. Knouse, "Impressions of theresume: the effects of applicant education, experience, and impression management,"Journalof Business and Psychology 9, no. 1 (1994); R.R. Lau and D.P. Redlawsk, "Advantages anddisadvantages of cognitive heuristics in political decision making," American Journal of PoliticalScience (2001); R.R. Lau and D.P. Redlawsk, How voters decide: Information processing duringelection campaigns (Cambridge Univ Pr, 2006); M. Lodge, K.M. McGraw, and P. Stroh, "Animpression-driven model of candidate evaluation," The American Political Science Review(1989); Lupia, "Shortcuts versus encyclopedias: Information and voting behavior in Californiainsurance reform elections."; G. Lutz, "Participation, Cognitive Involvement, and Democracy:When Do Low Turnout and Low Cognitive Involvement Make a Difference, and Why?"(2003); M. Matson and T.S. Fine, "Gender, ethnicity, and ballot information: Ballot cues inlow-information elections," State Politics & Policy Quarterly 6, no. 1 (2006); M.L. McDermott,"Voting cues in low-information elections: Candidate gender as a social information variablein contemporary United States elections," American Journal of Political Science (1997); S.L.Popkin, The reasoning voter: Communication and persuasion in presidential campaigns (Universityof Chicago Press, 1991); B.F. Schaffner and M.J. Streb, "The partisan heuristic in low-

information elections," Public Opinion Quarterly 66, no. 4 (2002).57 Downs, An economic theory of democracy: 223,24.58 Popkin, The reasoning voter: Communication and persuasion in presidential campaigns .


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Popkin categorises these shortcuts also known as heuristics into five main

groups.

1. Opinions of others (including evaluation by experts)2. By keeping "running tallies" on political parties using a party label.3. Estimate policy on "demographic traits" and supporters.4. Campaign behaviour rather than historical performance5. Estimate sincerity and adherence to promises not by evaluating past

behaviour but from private lives to public lives.59

Of these, demographic traits are of considerable value in estimating a

candidates policy preferences60 and are, in the context of this study are the

most relevant as the other categories rely heavily on mass media and otherelements such as political parties labels, which are more common at national

and general elections. Popkin defines demographic traits as things like

candidates age, ethnicity, religion, gender and local ties and argues that they

provide important cues because the voter observes the relationship between

these traits and real-life behaviour as part of the voters daily experience.61

While some of these elements might be questioned as information that relies

heavily on stereotypical notions, the reality is that in the absence of more

easily accessible and uncostly information a broad range of these

demographic heuristics beyond Popkins suggestions have been proven to be

relied upon-particularly in low-information contexts. McDermott looks at a

number of these including candidate occupations, race and gender and

stresses that the lower the levels of information in an election the higher the

reliance on heuristics. She writes voters in low-information electoral

situations frequently rely on cues to aid them in making a decision betweenunfamiliar candidates 62 and that for voters this simply means personal

information is taken and inferred as political information. She argues that this

is not necessarily as inaccurate or simplistic as it may sound and that [i]f

voters stereotype candidates by group affiliations, then demographic

characteristics should provide relatively accurate information based on

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!59 Grofman, Information, Participation, and Choice: An Economic Theory of Democracy inPerspective: 18.60

Ibid., 19.61 Ibid., 27.62 Ibid., 28.


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commonly held social expectations even in the lowest possible information

context.63 Knouse similarly draws a parallel with the utility of resumes and

how occupation and vocational labels are essentially an accurate and

reasonable shortcut resume readers attempt to compare job titles and

associate skills with the requirements of the job at hand evaluating how close

the presumed skills of the applicant match those of the job. Unfortunately for

voters they get nothing like a resume, interview or training period.64

In some ways however, if ballots are supplemented by a candidate

information booklet, voters are provided with a form of truncated resume

which may include such information. This is an element that Banducci and

others pick up on in their focus on appearance cues in candidate profilephotos. They argue that such appearance and visual cues definitely help

citizens reach reasonable voting decisions that reflect their own preferences

and influences.65 However they find that while it may help voters make a

decision it may not necessarily be the correct one a criticism that is more

fully explored by Lau and Redlawsk in their longitudinal study.66 They find

that cues are used by everyone but they did not substitute for political

sophistication in predicting correct voting and that only in experts appear to

be helped. They conclude that their finding should give pause to thinking

that heuristics are the answer to the problems of low information voting.67

Lupia and others however strongly refute this finding:

If we believe that well-informed voters make the best possible decisions, then

the fact that relatively uninformed voters can emulate them suggests that the

availability of certain types of information cues allows voters to use their

limited resources efficiently while influencing electoral outcomes in ways that

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!63 M.L. McDermott, "Race and gender cues in low-information elections," Political ResearchQuarterly 51, no. 4 (1998): 895.64 McDermott, "Voting cues in low-information elections: Candidate gender as a socialinformation variable in contemporary United States elections," 271.65 Knouse, "Impressions of the resume: the effects of applicant education, experience, and

impression management," 34.66 Banducci et al., "Candidate appearance cues in low-information elections."67 Lau and Redlawsk, How voters decide: Information processing during election campaigns.


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they would have if they had taken the time and effort necessary to acquire

encyclopaedic information.68

This statement does well to capture what is so significant about the research

surrounding information shortcuts. While it may seem counter intuitive that

briefer pieces of information can lead people to the same conclusions as larger

amounts of more in-depth information, the significance lies more in the

connections that information cues allows the reader to make. To relate back to

the terminology of Downes, using such cues essentially allows voters to avoid

more costly information that is unfamiliar or simply hard to absorb and

process and instead, through heuristics, connect with the free political

information that the voter already holds. Voters may not be experts in all thenuances of the local political agenda but they will have broad areas of impact

and association that are familiar and do seem relevant when prompted by

various touch points within the campaign, such as candidate booklets.

In a similar vein to the literature around voter booklets, the findings around

shortcuts and voter cues challenge the traditional assumption that all voters

want more deliberative and substantive political campaigns. While this

assumption may hold for one segment of votersthe politically informed and

involvedthere is strong evidence within the literature to suggest that other

voters want information that is less demanding, where citizens are provided

with simple cues and clear choices that require minimal time and effort to

make. 69 These points draw not just the shape of a certain problem of

information needs during elections but in part begin to reveal the nature of

what might also be a potential solution. In the face of a changing information

context with the growth of the Internet and more importantly Web 2.0, it is in

many ways not surprising that a few black and white pamphlets with small

type and limited word count are effectively unable to compete with peoples

informational expectations. As the theory tells us citizens will only become

voters if the cognitive cost of making a decision is affordable and in terms of

21st century information currency the current booklets for many are only an

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!68 Lau and Redlawsk, "Advantages and disadvantages of cognitive heuristics in political

decision making," 961.69 Lupia, "Shortcuts versus encyclopedias: Information and voting behavior in Californiainsurance reform elections," 72.


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added cognitive expense. However, if these costs could be shifted away from

the voter and on to the democratic structure itself, official information

pamphlets should in theory provide a logical and strategic way of actually

reducing costs, so why are they not more effective? This research believes that

a stronger focus on the actual style of information within New Zealands

variety of booklet may hold certain clues as to how the booklets could be

made more useful. Exactly how this might be achieved will now be

explored in an area of research and information innovation that similarly

attempts to provide cognitive shortcuts to understanding namely

infographics and visualised information.

The Power of Infographics and Visualised Information

While infographic information has had little application within the field of

political and electoral communications so far, its relevance lies in the fact that

it is able to quiet effectively achieve the very purpose that current local

campaign information fails to do- draw in the audience, provide context,

overview and detail, whilst remaining succinct, objective and useful. This part

of the study will provide a brief background of what Infographics are, why

they are valuable, how they work and explore a number of areas where they

have been applied in relation to politics.

Infographics are a visual representation of information, data or knowledge

supported by text.70 Crucial to their definition however is their sense of

purpose a visualization of data or ideas that tries to convey complex

information to an audience in a manner that can be quickly consumed and

easily understood.71 More succinctly British graphic designer, author, and

information design theorist Nigel Holmes simply refers to them as

explanation graphics. 72 In this way infographics straddle an important

limitation of text explanations in that they are able to remain both general and

specific by using visual processing that is simultaneous rather than

sequential.73 To describe something purely through words and text with

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!70 Lipsitz et al., "What voters want from political campaign communication," 353.71 L. Mol, "The Potential Role for Infographics in Science Communication," (2011): 7.72

M. Smiciklas, The Power of Infographics: Using Pictures to Communicate and Connect With YourAudiences (Que, 2012). 4.73 Ibid., 10.


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adequate detail can often require long paragraphs and specialized

terminology. Images and graphics on the hand while said to be worth a

thousand words can often raise more questions than answers. 74 A

combination of the two however, when carefully constructed, are able to

frame subject matter a great deal closer to real world experience and in this

way can not only be more detailed but also easier to understand two

elements that are usually locked in paradox.

In a technical sense, infographics work because of their high visual

component. Although many people think of visual learning in terms of Neil

Flemings VAK model (with separate groups of visual, auditory and

kinaesthetic learners),75 many information communication researchers suchas Colin Ware point out that this split only represents subtle differences in

how people learn and that overall all humans are inherently and inescapably

hard wired for visual information.76 He explains further

The human visual system is a pattern seeker of enormous power and subtlety.

The eye and the visual cortex of the brain form a massive parallel processor

that provides the highest- bandwidth channel into human cognitive centres.

At higher levels of processing, perception and cognition are closely

interrelated, which is why the words understanding and seeing are

synonymous.77

These natural functions that result from the connection between the eyes and

brain are most useful when there is a need to communicate to people who do

not have a lot of time, a long attention span or are unfamiliar with specific

terminology or concepts. 78 In terms of voter information these visuals

elements are able to attract people by appealing to them aesthetically, but can

also decrease the amount of time it takes them to comprehend the message

and increase their ability to retain it- or in other words act as a powerful

visual cue.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!74 S. Heller, Nigel Holmes on Information Design (Jorge Pinto Books, 2006).75 C. Covill and J. Hayles, "Learning styles," (2011).76 C. Ware, Information visualization: perception for design (Morgan Kaufmann, 2012). 12.77

Ibid., xxi.78 J. Lankow, R. Crooks, and J. Ritchie, Infographics: The Power of Visual Storytelling (JohnWiley & Sons, 2012). 45.


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While the label infographics may in itself be somewhat of a new

phenomenon, the use of visualisations and visual explanations is well

documented by the literature.79 The main points of discussion centre on what

should be considered an infographic. While this debate will not be entered

into here in any depth, it is useful to acknowledge in terms of theory both the

writings of Edward Tufte80 and Nigel Holmes81 who represent opposite ends

of the debate and who are often seen as the fathers of modern infographics.

Tufte argues that any graphic elements of a design that do not communicate

specific information are superfluous and should be omitted. 82 In contrast

Holmes supports heavy use of illustration and decoration to embellish

information design. His more editorial or journalistic perspective supportsthe notion that using illustration and visual metaphor makes the graphic

more appealing to view and thus more memorable.83

These two approaches underpin the wider theory that explains why

infographics are useful to their audience. A central principle of design is

that for an outcome to be seen as useful, it must be thought of from a user-

centric perspective.84 This involves presenting the information in a way

where all the needs of the user are considered and weighed up against each

other in the development of the design. Roman architect and engineer

Vitruvius uses such an approach when he talks of the three standards to

which all structures should adhere: soundness, utility and beauty.85 Moore

and Purchase86 as well as Lankow et al.87 apply this more specifically to

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!79 See U.M. Fayyad, A. Wierse, and G.G. Grinstein, Information visualization in data mining andknowledge discovery (Morgan Kaufmann Pub, 2002); D.A. Keim, "Information visualizationand visual data mining," IEEE transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics 8, no. 1(2002); A.V. Moere and H. Purchase, "On the role of design in information visualization,"Information Visualization 10, no. 4 (2011); R. Spence and A. Press, "Information visualization,"(2000); E.R. Tufte, The visual display of quantitative information (Graphics Press, 1983); Ware,Information visualization: perception for design.80 Tufte, The visual display of quantitative information; E.R. Tufte, Envisioning information(Graphics Press, 1990); E.R. Tufte and E. Weise Moeller, Visual explanations: images andquantities, evidence and narrative (Graphics Press Cheshire, CT, 1997).81 N. Holmes, Designer's guide to creating charts & diagrams (Watson-Guptill Publications,1984).82 Lankow, Crooks, and Ritchie, Infographics: The Power of Visual Storytelling. 3583 Ibid. 3684 C. Kraft, User Experience Innovation: User Centered Design that Works (Apress, 2012).85

Pollio Vitruvius, De Architectura (Teubner, 1867).86 Moere and Purchase, "On the role of design in information visualization."87 Lankow, Crooks, and Ritchie, Infographics: The Power of Visual Storytelling.


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information when they conclude that for a piece of communication to be

regarded as user-centric, with its usefulness maximised it must use a

mixture of three criteria:

1. Appeal- Communication should engage a voluntary audience.2. Comprehension Communication should effectively provide knowledge

that enables a clear understanding of the information.

3. Retention Communication should impart memorable knowledge.88This triadic theory however can also be used to detail the differences of

purpose between infographics. Lankow et al. describe three main areas where

infographics are commonly used and explain how the priorities between the

three principles shift slightly according to the exact use.89 More scientific or

academic uses such as Edward Tuftes have a focus on comprehension first,retention second and appeal third. Whereas more Editorial infographics such

as Holmess would focus on appeal, then comprehension, that retention, with

Infographics used in Marketing holding a different focus again (see fig. 4). In

this way Infographics used in the design of Candidate Information Booklets

would likely fit in a similar criteria, as will be explored further in the

methodology chapter.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!88 Ibid. 3089 Ibid. 38

Figure 4 Infographic priorities by application

(Taken from Lankow et al. 30)


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In sum, infographics provide a framework for presenting information in away that maximises effect and utility. Their power lies in that they capitalise

on the high visual capacity of the human brain, and are able to provide

shortcuts that are intuitive and meaningful without compromising correct

information. While it must be acknowledged that infographics can be done

badly, and are often criticised as a style for oversimplifying and

misconstruing information, this could be said for any type of communication

that does not adhere to appropriate craft and theoretical guidelines. When

considered properly, well-designed infographics are much more sophisticated

than the mere accompanying internet illustrations they are often taken for

and lie at the nexus of journalism, design, communications and academic

analysis.90

Examples of political infographics in action

When it comes to representing qualitative or more specifically political

information, however, as Slone argues visual tools currently used to analysequalitative information fall far short of matching the analytical power,

familiarity, and share-ability of quantitative tools like bar-charts, pie- charts,

and scatter-plots.91 It is therefore useful to briefly turn to a number of

contemporary examples and research outcomes that show where political

information and discussion can be visually represented. David MaCandless,

author of Information is Beautiful, 92 contrasts his infamous data

visualizations, with a number of designs that explore ideas and concepts.

His left vs. right political comparison (see fig. 5) is an excellent starting point

for showing how information without quantities can be visually explored.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!90 Smiciklas, The Power of Infographics: Using Pictures to Communicate and Connect With Your

Audiences.91 D. Slone, "Visualizing qualitative information," The Qualitative Report 14, no. 3 (2009).92 D. McCandless, Information Is Beautiful (Collins, 2010).


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Figure 5 Left vs. Right Political Infographic (taken from D. McCandless 2010)

Although this graphic has been criticised from a number of angles for over

simplifying or generalising politics,93 its ability to show the fundamental

relationships between ideas and contrast opposing ideologies in a seemingly

effortless way is quite profound. As MaCandless himself explains [t]here is

something a lot friendlier about seeing different political perspectives rather

than being told or forced to listen to one. It lets you quite easily become

capable of holding conflicting viewpoints joyously when you can see them.

Its even fun to engage with them.94 This element of fun is of course

something that usually could not be more negatively associated with politics

and the ability to hold conflicting perspectives is a vital component in the

utility of decision-making information. In a similar vein The New York timescapitalized on this inherent thirst from voters for information that is

comparable, interactive and side by side.95 Their 2008 Election Guide to the

presidential race was presented over a data and visual rich interactive website

that included Milestone timelines (see fig. 6), issue by issue comparisons,

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!93 Gaunt James, "Information is Beautiful: Left v Right redux -What's the difference betweenthe left and the right? David McCandless goes back to the future," The Guardian (2011).94 David McCandless, The beauty of data visualization, vol. TED Global 2010, (ted.com:

TEDTalks, 2010).95 M.A. Baum and T. Groeling, "New media and the polarization of American politicaldiscourse," Political Communication 25, no. 4 (2008).


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event calendars and maps, collections of debate clips and even complete

display of campaign advertisements.

While a large amount of the information available in this coverage is written

in text, the most engaging elements are either well supported by visual

language or crucially displayed in a visual way -drawing on some of the

themes of simultaneous vs. sequential processing. Also as explained above

the broad categories of bibliographic, policy and performance indicators are a

key part of understanding the range of information needed to make a good

decision.

One of the key problems with political information is that it is difficult to

quickly compare between contradicting and multi-dimensional views.

Michael Hermann and his Swiss Based Sotomo Research Unit96 were asked

specifically to look at this problem and came up with an interesting solution.

Based on 50 years of Swiss referendum data, Hermann developed a political

mapping tool known as the Politisches Spinnenprofil or the SmartSpider(see fig.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!96 See http://www.sotomo.ch/

Figure 6 a screen shot taken of the New York Times' websiten times.com/election08


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7).97 The SmartSpider consists of a Spider graph or radar chart, which details

eight broad political dimensions that define the areas of most diverse political

opinion.98 When profiling politicians views, each candidate answers 30 issue

questions and ranks on a scale of one to five where they stand. From this data

a political map is created that is unique to each candidate.

The value in this SmartSpider is that Hermann is careful to base the special

placing of dimensions in a way that correlates with the traditional

understanding of the political spectrum. He draws on cleavage theory by

Rokkan, Lipset and Kitschelt99 and theoretically deduces a multidimensional

model of political differentiation. 100 While the research behind these

dimensions may be rather complex and sophisticated, the visualized or

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!97 H. Leuthold, M. Hermann, and S.I. Fabrikant, "Making the political landscape visible:mapping and analyzing voting patterns in an ideological space," ENVIRONMENT ANDPLANNING B PLANNING AND DESIGN34, no. 5 (2007).98 J. Thurman and U. Gasser, "Three Case Studies from Switzerland: Smartvote," BerkmanCenter Research Publication No 3(2009): 6.99

H. Kitschelt, "Formation of Party Cleavages in Post-Communist Democracies TheoreticalPropositions," Party Politics 1, no. 4 (1995).100 H. Hermann Leuthold, M., "Methodenbeschreibung smartmap," ( 2007).

Figure 7 An example of the SmartSpider in use at euprofiler.org.eu


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mapped nature of the information is shown in the projects results to have

wide application (see fig. 8).101

!

Figure 8 The SmartSpider used in comparison for the Bern Daily newspaper "Der Bund"

Summary

This chapter has reviewed the key theories related to how voter information

works and how voter pamphlets work while also exploring the potential role

of infographic information in politics and the theories relating to its use.

These factors when pulled together can be seen as explanatory in nature but

in doing so also present a largely prescriptive conclusion whereby the

combined theories offer a view of how voter information in the 21 st centaury

could be. Chapter three will further break down this hypothesis and presentthe methodology for this dissertations substantive section.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!101 Ibid. 28


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Chapter 2: Qualitative Research Methodology

As was shown in chapter one, the research surrounding how voters use

information, points us towards a very specific set of tools for dealing with the

information problem- namely combining the ideas of information shortcutswith visualisation shortcuts. This discussion now shifts to asking whether the

successful combination of these theories can be proven in a more empirical

setting. This chapter discusses the research methods and frameworks that are

necessary in testing how voters might respond to an alternative candidate

information booklet with the information presented as infographics. First, it

will address why qualitative research and focus groups are an appropriate

way of collecting data on this topic. Second, it will look at the wider context of

the case study location and why it typifies a number of the problems this

study is concerned with. Third, it will explain the specific focus group

methods and in particular layout the participant selection, operational

environment, question format, content and moderators role. And finally it

will focus on design process of the alternative infographic booklet and how it

is based on many of the theoretical findings in the previous chapter.

Why use qualitative methods?Using qualitative methods such as focus groups and interviews are

appropriate for this project simply because of the prescriptive nature of the

question being asked- what can be done to improve the information provided

with ballot papers in local body elections? This question from the outset

assumes that something is wrong with the current information - a point that is

highlighted but not answered by a number of qualitative findings such as the

2010 Local Elections statistics report 102 and the New Zealand Election

survey. 103 Going beyond these findings however this research seeks to

ascertain the reasoning behind peoples decisions to vote or not to vote, or to

use a piece of information or not to use a piece of information, and therefore

capture a participants feelings, perceptions and ideas from a users direct

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!102Department of Internal Affairs, "Local Authority Election Statistics 2010 ", ed.

Brendan Boyle Secretary for Local Government (Wellington: The Department ofInternal Affairs 2011).103 J. Vowles, "The New Zealand Election Study," Political Science 52, no. 2 (2012).


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experiences. 104 To capture and analyse these feelings and perceptions,

qualitative research and in particular focus groups are seen to be the most

effective way of obtaining this data due to their capacity to look at a

phenomenon or way of life through the eyes of the participants, providing a

better insight into the views and attitudes of participants.105 This user end

focus is particularly useful in not only describing what is happening and

what is wrong or right about it, but also in prescribing potential solutions and

alternatives to a problem.

Dunedin as a case Study

The city of Dunedin is situated on the South Island of New Zealand and is

home to around 120, 000 inhabitants. As a case study for testing whether animprovement in local election voter information is necessary, Dunedin makes

for a particularly useful example as a number of factors compound the

problems of information scarcity and accessibility namely its young seasonal

population base, its electoral system and its recent change to an at large

central ward representation. As far as a high cognitive cost of voting goes,

Dunedin provides an excellent example.

As the home of Otago University and a number of other larger educationalinstitutions, Dunedin attracts a disproportionately high number of young

people aged between 18-24 years as well as a concentration of 25-30 year

olds.106 Of those around 20,000 are estimated to be students coming to

Dunedin from outside the city and so are seen to be a largely temporary or

seasonal populous with numbers dropping of significantly between

November and March. This leads to four points in terms of why the citys low

voting and enrolment turnout can be attributed to the attitudes and

experiences of students as found by Hayward, Rudd and Hercus in their 2010

study.107 First, many students feel too disconnected with local and city issues

and regard the campaigns in the citys elections as issueless. Second, the

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!104 Hercus, "To Vote or Not to Vote: Students Perceptions and Attitudes Towards Nationaland Local Elections in New Zealand."105Z. O'Leary, The essential guide to doing your research project (Sage PublicationsLtd, 2009).106 Affairs, "Local Authority Election Statistics 2010 ".107

J. Hayward, Rudd, C. & Hercus, J, "Voting 101: Student Voters in Dunedin's Local Election2010," in Along a Fault-line: New Zealand's Changing Local Government Landscape, ed. Jean Drage(Wellington: Dunmore Press., 2011.).


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lack of party politics in local elections takes the partisanship out of the local

political scene and increases the costs of obtaining the accessible shortcut

information. Third, the lack of local media that is integrated with the student

population provides another gap of information. And fourthly and possibly

most importantly, some students consider it inappropriate for them to vote in

local elections when they are only in Dunedin for a limited time and feel a

stronger civic connection to their hometowns. In addition to this, even if

student voters are informed, enrolled and interested, the timing of local

elections in New Zealand usually falls in October or November and thus lies

either during exams or summer holidays which also acts as a disincentive to

voting in the city.108 What is significant about these comments and findings

however is that at least the first three points relating to issues, partisanshipand the information gap reinforce that information quantity, quality and

accessibility lie at the heart of Dunedins democratic problems.

Under the New Zealand Local Electoral Act 2001109 the city is required to run

elections for Mayor, city council, regional council, community boards and

district health board every three years. Territorial Authorities in New Zealand

have the choice as to how they conduct their elections and are able to choose

for council elections between the First Past the Post (FPP) and the Single

Transferable Vote (STV) voting systems. While many New Zealand cities

have followed the FPP model, Dunedin and a few other exceptions such as

Wellington, use the STV system. STV asks voters to rank candidates according

to preference and is seen as considerably more proportional in reflecting the

preferences of voters. 110 However it is also largely seen as a system of

perceived complexity[that] may put some voters off,111 and in this way is

often pointed to contributing to Dunedins low voter turnout and a strongcontributor to cognitive cost.

In 2010 following a representation review in 2009 the Dunedin City council

voted to merge a number of urban Dunedin electoral wards into a single at

large ward consisting of 11 council seats. This meant that while voters had a

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!108 Ibid., 108.109

New Zealand Parliament, "The Local Electoral Act," in 5b (Wellington, New Zealand2001).110 J. Zvulun, "Implementation of STV in 2004 New Zealand."111 Hayward, "Voting 101: Student Voters in Dunedin's Local Election 2010," 107.


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greater say over the make up of their council, the increased number of

candidates to choose between also increased the cognitive cost of making a

choice.

In combining the above factors it is therefore not surprising that Dunedin

(and particularly the North Dunedin area) holds some of the lowest forms of

enrolment and turnout in the country. In 2010 local election Dunedins

turnout was 53% compared with 60% in 1992 and a mere 30% in Dunedins

Cargill ward in 2007 (where a large amount of the student population reside).

The enrolment statistics are also low with only 47% between 18-24 year olds

enrolled as of 31st August 2012.112 In summary Dunedin provides excellent

conditions for studying the problems of low information in local elections asany solution that is able to combat some of the problems typified in Dunedin

is likely to have already overcome some of the highest bars of apathy,

information appeal and efficacy.

Focus Group Composition and Organisation

Young voters were particularly important to test because not only do they

represent the demographic with the lowest turnout in Local elections (and

thus the greatest area of potential impact) but also because their fickle and

nonchalant attitude towards local politics represented somewhat of a high

bar to overcome. These two groups represent what is often seen as the

shameful contradiction of the modern campaign113 as, although they would

seem both well equipped and eager for effecting change, young educated

voters in particular are more likely not to turnout114 and most likely to be less

well informed.115 As Young explains this is best explained by traditional

economic theory, as education level increases, so does the opportunity costof not only casting a vote but also of investing substantial amounts of time,

effort, and money to inform ones electoral choices.116 Thus anything that is

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!112 Ibid., 106.113 Young, "Vancouver's informed electorate: Voter knowledge in the 2005 municipalelection," 29.114 D.D. Lassen, "The effect of information on voter turnout: Evidence from a naturalexperiment," American Journal of Political Science 49, no. 1 (2005): 112.115

Young, "Vancouver's informed electorate: Voter knowledge in the 2005 municipalelection," 32.116 Ibid.


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able to reduce that cost for this demographic should then in turn increase the

chances of voting and informed decisions.

In addition to this, a major variable highlighted in the literature is the effect of

expert knowledge in voters willingness to engage in information use before

voting. Lau and Redlawsk note that one major difference in how voters

respond to cognitive heuristics can be drawn between voters who self identify

as political experts and those who do not. Experts are more likely to use

informational cues in an accurate way and pick candidates in accordance

with what their fully informed preferences would be.117 While this research

does not intend to focus on the accuracy of voter choices it does wish to

garner how useful voter information is in making those choices. In this waythe likelihood that experts will respond differently to certain types of

information relative to others is highly probable.

Two focus groups of four to five participants were conducted over a 30-40

minute session. The sessions were held separately and one after another. They

included a mixed but non-proportional spread of gender, age, and voting

experience.

In accordance with the above findings, one focus group was composed of

students who self identified as experts and one group who did not.

Participants were sourced from a number of undergraduate university

colleges and were asked to self identify as either not interested or

knowledgeable about politics or interested and knowledgeable about

politics. This also had a practical consideration in separating those most

likely to dominate discussion and those most likely to be hesitant in

contributing. Similarly the small size of the groups (also known as mini focus

groups) 118 was decided upon in order to allow all the participants to

contribute more to the discussion, expressing their views in the process. 119 In

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!117 Lau and Redlawsk, "Advantages and disadvantages of cognitive heuristics inpolitical decision making." 16.118

R.A. Krueger and MA Casey, "A practical guide for applied research," A practicalguide for applied research (2000).119 J. Munday, "Identity in Focus," Sociology 40, no. 1 (2006): 96.


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this way any saturation point120 was reached fairly easily as few variables

were being tested between groups. The more specific aim of these groups

therefore was to gather a representative set of reactions and perspectives that

would likely have been similar regardless of whether three students or 300

students were asked.

The focus groups were organised into three sections and designed to take

around ten to twelve minutes each. Initially participants were asked to give

their name, their age and what they studied at university, as a tentative

icebreaker and allow participants to feel comfortable talking in the group

environment before discussing the more substantive material. The following

two or three questions continued this informal tone asking participantsbroadly about their voting experiences in the past and expectations in the

future. The questioning then focused in on the topic of voter information

whether participants were likely to seek it out, look for specific things or if

they used it at all.

The second phase sought to carry on this theme but this time with the current

candidate booklets that are used in local elections. Questions were grouped

into initial impressions of the booklets, whether they liked what they saw and

whether they would actually use the information in deciding whom to vote

for. The third phase largely was a repeat of the format used in the second

section but this time participants received the alternative infographic booklet

designed specifically for this research project. This booklet provided

participants with a large proportion of the information visualisation

techniques such as special mapping, standardised form, symbology,

iconography and colour.

121

The focus groups were held in a medium sized tutorial room at one of the

Otago Universitys residential colleges. Participants were provided with

refreshments and were asked to complete ethics approval forms relating to

their comfort, confidentiality and participation in the project. Participants

were recorded using a ZOOM H2 audio recorder which ensured a high

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!120

D.L. Morgan, Focus groups as qualitative research, vol. 16 (Sage Publications, Inc,1997). 43.121 For a more detailed explanation see booklet development section or appendix.


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quality if somewhat distant sounding record of proceedings and

contributions. The seating arrangement was spread around a large

rectangular table with participants spread in a U-shape around 3 sides of the

table and the moderator on the other.122

While the use of a external moderator not attached with the research project

was considered, the informal nature of the conversation and the sample based

topic suggested any dangers of bias or interference would be minimal.

Although the moderator at times was required to stimulate and query

discussion between participants for the most part the pamphlet examples did

this by themselves with most questions remaining open and general.

Development of the Infographic Candidate Booklet Prototype

In order to accurately test the participants perceptions of infographic

information, I designed an alternative booklet that reflected many of the

theories and findings explored in chapter one. Although this design process

was somewhat tangential to this research it is still useful to briefly recount

how the booklets were developed in relation to the application of

infographics to politics. It is important to distinguish that the infographic

booklet refers to the alternative booklet I designed and the current

candidate booklet refers to the original candidate information booklet

currently in use.

The first step in the process was to develop a framework for the candidate

information content. What specific areas of information did voters want to

know about, that candidates were able to provide? As was set out in chapter

1, according to Nicholson and Lipsitz voters prefer political information to becategorised into a number of main areas.123 In addition to this Popkins five

groups of information shortcuts124 provide some overlap also, and so it was

decided that categories of Basic information, Political information, Biographical

information, and Specific Issue information, would work as the most relevant to

this study as monetary donations are withheld in New Zealand Elections

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!122 J.T. Miner, L.E. Miner, and J. Griffith, Collaborative Grantseeking: A Guide to DesigningProjects, Leading Partners, and Persuading Sponsors (Greenwood, 2011). 66.123

Lipsitz et al., "What voters want from political campaign communication."; Nicholson,"What Voters Want From Official Political Candidate Websites."124 Popkin, The reasoning voter: Communication and persuasion in presidential campaigns .


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until after the result. To ensure that these areas were broadly covered in the

content traditionally presented in local Dunedin elections, a brief analysis of

existing candidate profiles, interviews and community information

pamphlets was undertaken. The questions and topics covered in the three

local newspapers the Otago Daily Times, D-Scene and the Star as well as the

Local Elections Official Website were of particular use. Although very little

content was standardised both between publications and candidates, the

content themes very clearly matched with the literature, and confirmed that

councillors were comfortable answering a range of questions across

biographical and political areas. It was interesting to note, however, that in

addition to the more predictable pieces of information, (such as -what is your

occupational background? How have you been involved in the community?)more specific questions relating to familial status, which suburb the candidate

lived in and how the candidate could be contacted for further information

were also included. With these questions and topics in mind, a

comprehensive set of information was developed, with corresponding

questions and elements as follows:

General Information

Candidate Name

Candidate Photo

Campaign Slogan

Describe what you stand for, why are you running?

Are you officially running on a particular group ticket or as a

representative of a political party?

Where do you live?

What is your familial/marital status?How can you be contacted?

Political information

How would you broadly describe your politics? Where would you

place yourself on the political party spectrum?

Biographical Information

What is your educational background?

What is your vocational/occupational background?


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How have you been involved in the community? Have you held

particular positions within community groups or organizations?

Issue Information

Where do you stand on [this] issue?

If [this] was to happen how would you vote on council?

Are you for or against [this] issue?

While these questions represent a very broad selection of topics and

information areas, for the purposes of researching how participants react to

certain sections, it is useful to begin with a wide catchment of areas, rather

than arbitrarily pre-empt the areas voters would prefer. Moreover it is also

useful to keep Bowler and Donovans finding in mind, which clearly statesthat different voters find value in different types of political information,125

thus a broad range of information is likely to suite a wider range of voters

needs.

The second part of the booklet development process was to present the

content sections in accordance with a number of visualisation rules and

infographic styles. Central to understanding this user centric design

approach is the fact that the type of information being presented must

directly inform, how it is presented, or in other words the form must follow

the function.126 As was set out in chapter one the overall type of information

that is being communicated is somewhat different to the usual applications of

infographics as it most likely sits at point in between Lankow, Crooks and

Richies categories of Academic/Scientific infographics and Editorial

infographics.127 Decision-making Infographics (such as the format being

proposed here) appear to form a different category as they could be said tohave a priority of comprehension first, appeal second and retention third.

In keeping with this focus each section of the profile was assigned a specific

visualization tool to reflect the content. Using a number of definitions and

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!125 S. Bowler and T. Donovan, "Information and opinion change on ballot propositions,"

Political Behavior 16, no. 4 (1994): 419.126 W. Glenn, "Form Follows Function," From the Editors 3 (2004).127 Lankow, Crooks, and Ritchie, Infographics: The Power of Visual Storytelling.


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methods, such as Lengler and Epplers Periodic Table of Visualisation,128 each

element was carefully chosen to match the content.

General Information

This section of the infographic profiles draws heavily on providing the basic

shortcuts that voters want to know. Central to this is the clear focus on the

candidates name and photo, in what information designers call the F-shape or

top left corner position.129 Other visual elements include the provision of a

party or groups logo, an iconography of the candidates family members and

a small map of the basic shape of the candidates suburb of residence. It was

decided that an individual description of a candidates reasons for standing

was best displayed in simple block text. Although this initially seemed like

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