ICR Analysis Shows
Economic Policy Is Key To High Presidential Competence
Ratings
MEDIA, PA - October 20, 2008 A recent analysis by ICR / International Communications Research
reports: In fact, perceived strong performance
in matters of the economy is so closely linked to being viewed as a competent
president that they are virtually synonymous.
And that is across the history of the office of the presidency, not just
in this present election cycle or troubled economy. This is one key finding coming out of ICRs independent re-examination of the presidential
scorecard published in Alvin S. Felzenbergs recent
book The Leaders We Deserved (and a Few We Didnt). The Felzenberg
system is different from previous presidential ratings in that it uses input on
six aspects of presidents and what they are faced with (character, vision,
competence, economic policy, national defense & security,
preserving/extending liberty) to determine a presidents greatness, rather
than rely on a single undifferentiated grade.
And this is where ICRs multivariate analysis
came into the picture.
After
reading the book I felt there was a richness that might yield interesting
insights with a deeper look, says ICRs Ed Hass, Ph.D.
Senior Vice President and who heads up the companys Advanced Research Methods
group and directed the analysis. The
goal was to see if there were interesting relationships among the six ratings
areas not revealed by the straight averaging Felzenberg
used to arrive at his overall scores for the presidents.
Indeed
there were. Other conclusions the ICR
analysis point to beside equating economic grades with
overall competence:
(1) the way a presidents character is viewed is strongly
related to how well they have been seen to preserve and extend liberty, both
for U.S.
citizens and those of other nations;
(2) perceived presidential performance on matters of defense and
national security is essentially an independent issue from the way a
presidents character is seen;
(3) the strength and coherence of a presidents vision for the United States
is a good predictor of how they will be rated in the other regards.
Our work
also shows that the six different attributes do not make equal contributions to
a presidents report card, ICRs Hass
continues. For example, economic policy
made about a 25% greater impact than would be expected, and the extension of
liberty about 30% less. This
differential weighting was used to re-tool the original final grades. Mostly, Alvin Felzenbergs
list order was preserved: Lincoln & Washington were still at the top,
Buchanan still at the bottom, but it did allow for the breaking of the many
ties on his list. So the next time you
get into a bar room argument over who was rated higher, John Quincy Adams or
Woodrow Wilson, youll have an answer (Wilson).
ICR / International Communications
Research
Based in Media, PA, ICR is a leading survey-based market research company,
which conducts research in more than 90 countries. ICR offers a full line of
custom and omnibus research services.
Its omnibus solutions include small business, teen and Hispanic research
services. ICRs full suite of custom research
services are guided by industry experts and advanced analytics, with
specialization in brand, customer loyalty, product development, market
exploration, and public affairs research.
More information on ICR can be obtained from www.icrsurvey.com.
Contacts
ICR /
International Communications Research
Linda C. Lamberto
484-840-4300
info@icrsurvey.com
www.icrsurvey.com
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