How to Use HapPhi's Compare Search for More In-Depth Analysis of Election Data

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Did you know that there are over 200 variables in the voter file? How about that we created a tool to help you find the ones you’re interested in and see how they compare with one another? The Compare search feature on HapPhi helps users understand the differences between two or more values in our data. This article covers common uses of the compare search feature and its limitations. For example, let’s say you want to see if there is a correlation between registered Republicans and people who like fast food. If you search for Republican, fast food, and voting, you will get so many results that it could be hard to find what you’re looking for. However, if you use a compare search, that makes things much easier!

Find the differences between two or more variables at once

Search for the variables you’re interested in comparing, such as gender and age, and select “show me the difference.” This will show you the relationship between the two variables. Many analysts might be familiar with looking at the difference between two variables, but HapPhi can handle up to three variables at once!

Find out which demographic groups are most likely to vote for your candidate

HapPhi’s data can help you find the answer to this question using a compare search. Use the compare search feature to look at how one or two of your demographics compare to the rest of the sample. Example: You want to know which age groups are most likely to vote Republican. To do this, you want to type in the age; so you could type 18-29, 30-39, or 40-49. Then, select vote and Republican. This will give you a report of how likely each age group is to vote Republican. You can use the compare search as many times as you want to see how each demographic group compares to the others.

See how different types of people will vote

Find out how HapPhi’s data predicts certain groups will vote by running a compare search. This can be helpful to find the groups you want to focus on and make sure that the people in those groups are being reached by your campaign. Let’s say you want to focus on young people who live in swing states. You can type in “young”, “swing state”, and “vote” to see how likely young people are to vote in a general election. This report will let you know if you’re reaching young people in swing states and where else you may have opportunities to connect with this group. You could also compare demographic groups that you aren’t interested in. This will allow you to see how different groups are likely to vote, as well as where they are located. This can help you make sure to avoid spending time on groups that you don’t need to focus on.

See what types of ads are resonating with voters

HapPhi’s compare search can be used to see the types of ads that are most effective for certain demographics. You can type in the name of the ad and select what types of people it targets. This search will show you how the ad is performing among those groups. For example, if you want to know what ads are most effective at turning out Latino voters, you could search for “ad” and “Latino.” You can also run other types of ads through the compare search to see if they are resonating with people or if they need to be improved.

Limitations

If you’re trying to compare two variables that both have a lot of data, such as age and income, you may run into issues. If you try to compare more than three variables, you may also run into trouble. We recommend that you keep your comparisons limited to two or three variables at a time to make sure you don’t get false results. Another limitation is that you can’t use the compare search for certain time periods. The compare search only works for data from the 2016 presidential election and 2018 midterm election. Finally, the compare search only works for variables in the voter file. While our voter file has a lot of important information, there are some things that it doesn’t include, such as race and education.

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