Research on nonverbal communication to be completed after last night’s final presidential debate will help two Kent State University professors form an opinion on which candidate showed dominance in the debate, and may ultimately have an impact on the vote in November. This research builds on similar studies from previous presidential election contests, where the Kent State scientists accurately were able to predict the winner of the popular vote.                                                               

The research, pioneered by Dr. Stanford Gregory and currently conducted by Gregory and lead on the project, Dr. Will Kalkhoff, tracks the lower end of the frequency of the candidates’ voices during the debates and measures acoustic variation in this range. This method has predicted the winner of the popular vote in eight out of eight of the recent presidential elections studied.

Kalkhoff and Gregory will soon put the finishing touches on the data collection portion of the study, and will prepare their findings for publication by the end of the month.

Kalkhoff can be reached at 330-672-3712 or wkalkhof@kent.edu.

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