Persuasion Analytics and Targeting

Persuasion Analytics and Targeting

This course will teach you how to apply predictive modeling methods to identify persuadable individuals and to target voters in political campaigns.

This course will teach you how to apply predictive modeling methods to identify persuadable individuals and to target voters in political campaigns.

$999 | Enroll Now
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Overview

In this course you will learn you how to apply predictive modeling methods with a focus on persuasion (uplift) models and how to target voters in political campaigns. You will cover which aspects of campaigns are most important, and the difference between traditional targeting and micro-targeting techniques. You will also learn what to measure, how to design appropriate surveys, the role of experiments and how to account for the impact of advertising.

Note: This course is also the lab component for students pursuing a Programming for Data Science Certificate.

Intermediate Level Course
4-Week Course
100% Online Courses
ACE College Credit Eligible
Expert Instructors
Teacher Assistant Support
Tution-Back Guarantee

Learning Outcomes

In this course students will learn how to find appropriate voter targets, design survey instruments, and assess the effectiveness of voter contacts. You will implement various predictive models and testing methods to choose optimal campaign messages and media.

  • Find voter targets that are appropriate to a campaign phase
  • Assess the effectiveness of a voter contact
  • Designing a survey instrument for use in a predictive model
  • Implement predictive models with voter data
  • Add uplift modeling to predict whether a voter responds better with a “treatment”
  • Conduct an A-B test
  • Include test or no-test indicator as a predictor

Who Should Take This Course

Data analysts who are familiar with predictive modeling and want to learn persuasion modeling, and how to apply it and predictive modeling in general, especially in the political world.  Political consultants and staff who have had some exposure to predictive modeling, and want to dive deeper and learn how it is applied in a political campaign.

Instructors

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Mr. Ken Strasma

Mr. Ken Strasma

Ken Strasma is a pioneer in the field of predictive analytics in high-stakes Presidential campaigns, serving as the National Targeting Director for President Obama's historic 2008 campaign and for John Kerry's 2004 presidential campaign. He produced the predictive analytics models used by the campaigns, and helped popularize the use of that technology.

Strasma is now the co-founder and CEO of HaystaqDNA, a firm that provides predictive analytics and strategic consulting services for corporations, non-profits and membership organizations.

Since 2008, Strasma has consulted on hundreds of political and corporate projects in the United States and internationally. HastaqDNA clien...

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Course Syllabus

Week 1

Background and Basic Campaign Concepts

  • Why campaigns need to target
  • Phases of a campaign
  • Finding the right targets for the right phase
  • Calculating the effectiveness of a voter contact

Week 2

Traditional Targeting vs. Individual Level Modeling and Beginning the Modeling Process

  • Traditional targeting
  • Micro-targeting - shifting the focus to the individual
  • Deciding what to predict
  • Survey instrument design
  • The modeling process

Week 3

The Modeling Process in Detail

  • Common pitfalls
  • Missing values
  • Building new indicators
  • Evaluating models
  • Combining models

Week 4

Persuasion (uplift) Modeling

  • Controlled and natural experiments
  • Combining A-B test with predictive modeling
    • Persuasion: determining for whom the message works
  • Targeting for broadcast television
  • Targeting for online advertising

Class Dates

2023

Sep 8, 2023 to Oct 6, 2023

2024

Mar 8, 2024 to Apr 5, 2024

2025

No classes scheduled at this time.

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Prerequisites

The courses listed below are prerequisites for enrollment in this course:

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Predictive Analytics 1 – Machine Learning Tools

Predictive Analytics 1 – Machine Learning Tools

This online course introduces the basic paradigm of predictive modeling: classification and prediction.
Topic: Analytics, Prediction/Forecasting | Skill: Introductory, Intermediate | Credit Options: ACE, CAP, CEU
Class Start Dates: May 12, 2023, Sep 8, 2023, Jan 12, 2024, May 10, 2024

What Our Students Say​

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Jake Lowen

An excellent course. I'd like to thank Mr. Strasma and the Teaching Assistants for a very solid and productive course.

Jake Lowen
Kansas Grassroots Consulting, LLC
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Karolis Urbonas

It was perfect, much recommended to anybody wanting to understand the dynamics behind political microtargeting and how it can be applied to business. Many theoretical aspects that were known in the past have been empirically implemented with wonderful exercises of Mr. Ken Strasma.

Karolis Urbonas
Amazon
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Frequently Asked Questions

What is your satisfaction guarantee and how does it work?

We offer a “Student Satisfaction Guarantee​” that includes a tuition-back guarantee, so go ahead and take our courses risk free. That’s our commitment to student satisfaction. Students may cancel, transfer, or withdraw from a course under certain conditions. If you’re not satisfied with a course, you may withdraw from the course and receive a tuition refund.

Please see our knowledge center for more information.

Who are the instructors at the Institute?

The Institute has more than 60 instructors who are recruited based on their expertise in various areas in statistics. Our faculty members are:

  • Authors of well-regarded texts in their area;
  • Advisory board members;
  • Senior faculty; and
  • Educators who have made important contributions to the field of statistics or online education in statistics.

The majority of our instructors have more than five years of teaching experience online at the Institute.

Please visit our faculty page for more information on each instructor at The Institute for Statistics Education.

Please see our knowledge center for more information.

What type of courses does the Institute offer?

The Institute offers approximately 80 courses each year. Topics include basic survey courses for novices, a full sequence of introductory statistics courses, bridge courses to more advanced topics. Our courses cover a range of topics including biostatistics, research statistics, data mining, business analytics, survey statistics, and environmental statistics.

Please see our course search or knowledge center for more information.

Do your courses have for-credit options?

Our courses have several for-credit options:

  • Continuing education units (CEU)
  • College credit through The American Council on Education (ACE CREDIT)
  • Course credits that are transferable to the INFORMS Certified Analytics Professional (CAP®)

Please see our knowledge center for more information.

Is the Institute for Statistics Education certified?

The Institute for Statistics Education is certified to operate by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV). For more information visit: https://www.schev.edu/

Please see our knowledge center for more information.

Visit our knowledge base and learn more.

FAQs + Knowledge Base

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Additional Course Information

Organization of Course

This course takes place online at The Institute for 4 weeks. During each course week, you participate at times of your own choosing – there are no set times when you must be online. Course participants will be given access to a private discussion board. In class discussions led by the instructor, you can post questions, seek clarification, and interact with your fellow students and the instructor.

At the beginning of each week, you receive the relevant material, in addition to answers to exercises from the previous session. During the week, you are expected to go over the course materials, work through exercises, and submit answers. Discussion among participants is encouraged. The instructor will provide answers and comments, and at the end of the week, you will receive individual feedback on your homework answers.

Time Requirements

This is a 4-week course requiring 10-15 hours per week of review and study, at times of your choosing.

Homework

The homework in this course consists of short answer questions to test concepts, guided exercises in writing code, and guided data analysis problems using software.

Course Text

All materials will be provided during the course.

Software

To do the exercises in the course you will need access to and some familarity with data mining software.

Software Uses and Descriptions | Available Free Versions
To learn more about the software used in this course, or how to obtain free versions of software used in our courses, please read our knowledge base article “What software is used in courses?” 

For Certificate Students
Software use depends on whether you signed up for Persuasion Analytics or Applied Predictive Analytics, which is the version of the course that serves as a capstone project for students in the Programming for Data Science Certificate.

The data and exercises for Persuasion Analytics students are geared to minimize the issues with data handling, and facilitate the use of XLMiner, an Excel add-in, to allow students to focus on the statistical concepts being taught in the course.

The data and exercises for Applied Predictive Analytics students bring out the issues of data size and data handling, and require the use of R or Python.

You can choose either track once you are in the class. If you are familiar with R and Python and want to grapple with the data issues in this course, you could select the R/Python track. Otherwise, you should choose the XLMiner track.

 

Course Fee & Information

Enrollment
Courses may fill up at any time and registrations are processed in the order in which they are received. Your registration will be confirmed for the first available course date unless you specify otherwise.

Transfers and Withdrawals
We have flexible policies to transfer to another course or withdraw if necessary.

Group Rates
Contact us to get information on group rates.

Discounts
Academic affiliation?  In most courses you are eligible for a discount at checkout.

New to Statistics.com?  Click here for a special introductory discount code.  

Invoice or Purchase Order
Add $50 service fee if you require a prior invoice, or if you need to submit a purchase order or voucher, pay by wire transfer or EFT, or refund and reprocess a prior payment.

Options for Credit and Recognition

This course is eligible for the following credit and recognition options:

No Credit
You may take this course without pursuing credit or a record of completion.

Mastery or Certificate Program Credit
If you are enrolled in mastery or certificate program that requires demonstration of proficiency in this subject, your course work may be assessed for a grade.

CEUs and Proof of Completion
If you require a “Record of Course Completion” along with professional development credit in the form of Continuing Education Units (CEU’s), upon successfully completing the course, CEU’s and a record of course completion will be issued by The Institute upon your request.

ACE CREDIT | College Credit
This course has been evaluated by the American Council on Education (ACE) and is recommended for the upper-division baccalaureate/associate degree, 3 semester hours in data mining or computer science. Please note that the decision to accept specific credit recommendations is up to the academic institution accepting the credit.

Supplemental Information

Literacy, Accessibility, and Dyslexia

At Statistics.com, we aim to provide a learning environment suitable for everyone. To help you get the most out of your learning experience, we have researched and tested several assistance tools. For students with dyslexia, colorblindness, or reading difficulties, we recommend the following web browser add-ons and extensions:

 

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Safari

  • Navidys (for colorblindness, dyslexia, and reading difficulties)
  • HelperBird for Safari (for colorblindness, dyslexia, and reading difficulties)

Miscellaneous

There is no additional information for this course.

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Persuasion Analytics and Targeting
$999 | Enroll Now
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