"The West Wing" (TV series) included an episode where President
Bartlet was delivering his (third?) State of the Union address.  While
giving his address, his staffers were conducting a (phone?) poll of
home audience members and plotting the results of the poll on a graph
in real-time.  The graph showed how the audience was reacting
(collectively) to specific issues and to Bartlet's delivery of those
issues.

Question: Is this real-time polling technology that plots results to a
graphic display real?  If so, what is the technolgy or process called
and who conducts the polling?

Hello,

According to Frank I. Luntz of polling firm Luntz Research, you are
describing "instant-response" focus-group audience research (1).

Here's how it works: You gather a focus group in front of a TV and
give them each a dial with settings marked 1 to 10. You tell the group
members to turn the dial to a higher setting when they like what they
hear and to a lower setting when they don't. A computer plots an
average score for the group as the speech goes on. When the speech is
over, you can go over the focus group's response to certain things the
person said, as if it were a lie-detector readout. If ratings hit 8.5
when the politician talks about Medicare, you know people (at least
those in your focus group) like what your guy has to say about
Medicare. (Other technologies than dials and other scales besides 1-10
can be used.)

Presentation Testing of New York explains in more detail at their FAQ
page (http://www.presentationtesting.com/faq.html), which also shows a
picture of the graphical readout.

This audience-research technique -- best-known as "dial groups" --
also appeared on an episode of The Simpsons, when the makers of Itchy
& Scratchy test how children respond to ideas for the I&S show. (2)

Other than Luntz and Presentation Testing, companies that do this kind
of audience research include:

MSInteractive
Livonia, Mich.
http://www.marketstrategies.com

Fabrizio, McLaugilin & Associates
Alexandria, Va.
www.fabmac.com

Wilson Research Strategies
McLean, Va.
www.w-r-s.com

Greenberg Research
Washington
www.greenbergresearch.com

I hope this answer suits your needs. If it doesn't, please request
clarification.

References

(1) Frank I. Luntz, "Focus Groups"
http://www.pollingreport.com/focus.htm

(2) Frederic Briere, "[4F12] The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show"
http://www.snpp.com/episodes/4F12.html

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