Seven out of ten college students believe that President Obama won the second presidential debate that took place Tuesday night, according to a smartphone application co-developed by UC Davis, University of Maryland, and University of Arkansas.
The app’s third trial run had 2,300 college students in 42 states across the country taking part, where they click buttons that say "agree" or "disagree" as well as "dodge" or "spin" in real time as the candidates answer questions and speak during the debate.
"We should take these preliminary findings with a healthy grain of salt, since we’re dealing primarily with student participants, and we know that effects can be fleeting," said Amber Boydstun, an assistant professor of political science at UC Davis who co-designed the app, in a UC Davis press release. "But these findings suggest that this debate may have helped sway independent voters toward Obama."
According to the app’s results, 10 percent of the participants said that the debate changed their minds on who to vote for; two-thirds switched to Obama, and one-third switched to Mitt Romney, the Republican candidate.
Just more than half of the student participants said they were Democrats and 31 percent said they were Republicans. Similarly, 56 percent of respondents said they would vote for Obama and 30 percent would vote for Romney.
The results of the poll showed polarizing responses. According to Boydstun, Romney’s stance on gun control showed a peak in both "agree" and "disagree" clicks.
Respondents did disapprove of Obama’s response to a question about the Libya embassy attack, recording a large number of "dodge" clicks.
The students approved of moderator Candy Crowley, resulting in a large number of "approve" clicks when she fact-checked Romney.
A slide show with a full breakdown of response by state, race, gender, and other factors is available at the React Labs: Educate website.
