Early-Oct-2008-Survey.zip

Weights:

WEIGHT → full combined landline + cell sample (default for analysis).

LLWEIGHT → landline RDD only (excludes cell interviews).

COWEIGHT → landline + cell-only households (excludes dual landline-cell).

lvswt67 → weight for likely voters (cutoff at 67%).

unlvwt67 → weight for unlikely voters (for comparison).

Key constructed variables:

Race Combination (RACECMB): merges self-identified race categories into White, Black, Asian, Mixed, Other, DK/Refused.

Swing Voter (SWING): classifies respondents as strong McCain, strong Obama, leaners, or undecided.

Horserace (Q5horse): groups vote choice into McCain, Obama, other, or undecided.

Battle States (BATTLE): categorizes states as Republican, Democratic, or Battleground.

Likely Voter Scale (LVS): a 5-point scale incorporating past voting, registration, certainty of voting, age adjustments, and race adjustments.

Likely voter turnout model:

Predicts 62% turnout using a 67% cutoff on the LVS.

Adjustments made for race and age (e.g., younger respondents scored higher).

Those unregistered or not planning to vote automatically scored 0.