PVSWiki : Collecting

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Step 1. Collecting Ratings and Endorsements

You will be searching for ratings and endorsements that we don't have in our database. While more often than not you will need to collect only the most recent rating or endorsement, you should double check the ratings and endorsements we have previously collected in admin or your tracking sheet to confirm that we are not missing any previous ratings.

Ratings are often for past legislative sessions. For example, in 2012, most ratings we collected evaluated officials based on their votes in 2010 and 2011. Congressional sessions last two years; for instance, the 113th Congress consists of 2013, which is the first session, and 2014, the second session. National organizations differ as to how often they compile ratings; some will release ratings on a yearly basis, while others will only do ratings for a full session of Congress. State legislatures have sessions that last 1 or 2 years, with some only convening every two years. Only collect completed (final) scorecards. If it is not clear whether the rating is "complete" or "final" you will want to reference TranslatingRatings.

An interest group endorsement implies that a candidate supports the overall mission of an organization. Endorsements are typically reserved for candidates in an upcoming election. For this reason, much of the search for new ratings and endorsements will be dictated by State and National election schedules. You will be looking for endorsements for upcoming elections. It is often incredibly difficult for voters to find substantive information on candidates, so we need to make every effort to uncover as much as we can. There might be SIG endorsements on the internet from past elections. Special interest groups usually release their endorsements in the form of a press release, either as one press release with a complete list of endorsed candidates or as several releases with endorsements for candidates one-at-a-time.








To begin collection, go to the SIGs Folder in Google Drive. From there select the "Collection" folder and then the "Schedules" folder. In "Schedules" you will find "National SIGs" , "State_SIGs_1" and "State_SIGs_2". These files are where you find a list of SIGs that we currently track and other useful information while collecting for ratings and endorsements. "National SIGs" covers our national groups and state SIGs 1 & 2 cover all 50 states and DC.



In the "Schedules" folder there is a file named "Collection Priority (State SIGs)", this is where you will find which state you will be researching and determine what tracking file you select.

Once you open a tracking sheet, open the tab with the corresponding postal abbreviation (state_id). To start finding ratings and endorsements, click on the URL of the SIG listed. You are now on the SIGs website. From here you will comb through the site for ratings and endorsements; this can using an available search bar, checking the drop-down menus, looking through press releases, or even googling.

Once you find a rating or endorsement, you will need to save an electronic copy to the hard drive. We will go over how to properly save a scorecard later in this wiki.

After saving the scorecard or endorsement to the drive, you will need to add the information of the scorecard or endorsement to the current CEC (tracking sheet) found in the "Collection" folder. This is a very important step. Without completing this step, we can lose your research and lose data for the database.

Once you've saved and updated the CEC tracking sheet, fill out the collection schedule tracking sheet with the new information.

Repeat the process with the other SIGs in the national or state sigs tracking sheet.

See: SIGsDocumentation

Finding ratings and endorsements is fairly straightforward; you will be asked to look for either state level or federal level scores. Click on the URL listed on the tracking sheets to begin your research. On the homepage of a given special interest group, look for any links that might lead you to a section where the group would evaluate members of Congress.
Please take your time and click on any links that you think might be connected with ratings and endorsements. Endorsements tend to take the form of press releases, so it might be helpful to search for endorsements in the SIG's news feed. Many of the organizations we have in our database use a program called Capwiz, so if the group's website re-directs you it's OK. See Capwiz for further instructions.



Another useful tip to find endorsements and ratings is to search for specific terms in a SIG's built-in search function. If the website does not have a built-in search function, try using the URL to search. To use the URL, go to the URL bar and type site://url//, keywords. If all else fails try using Google. Use common ratings/endorsement phrases along with the name of the group you are searching. For Example: "Gun Owners of America AND Capwiz" or "Planned Parenthood AND legislative scorecard." Another hint is to search for the SIG's political action committee.

Look out for redirects to national sigs when collecting states. National endorsements and ratings stay with the national SIG and vice versa

If you are told to search for new groups' ratings, you might need to be creative to find new ratings because we have been looking for new groups for years.

1. Look at other directories of ratings, including but not limited to those listed under the Ratings Directories or Influence in Politics on the resources page
2. Google search keywords that might lead to ratings.

PLEASE NOTE: we do not take ratings done on behalf of an individual. Individuals may represent a group.



For Historical ratings and endorsements, The Wayback Machine is a great resource.

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In all cases, we need to save an electronic copy of the scorecard. In the event that an external individual and/or organization contact us wondering where these scores came from, we want to provide source documentation. We also need to save any relevant information such as scoring keys/legend, vote details the SIG uses, the methodology of their ratings, etc. If the group only releases scores in a spreadsheet file, then we can just save that file. If the scorecard is released in PDF format, that PDF file. If the rating is a table on a webpage, we will need to either print the page to PDF to save. Sometimes it's necessary to change the layout, margins, and/or paper size to have the whole scorecard or endorsement to save. After saving the PDF, be sure to view it by opening it to check and make sure the entire scorecard is captured within the PDF. Sometimes, it isn't possible to print the scorecard to file. Other options include taking a screenshot and save the scorecard/endorsement as a jpg OR saving the page as a .html file (preferred method).

1. Find the SIGs folder on the hard drive
1. "Research" > Research Divisions > SIGs and Ratings > National OR State > Name of SIG
2. Depending on the data collected, select either the "Rating" or "Endorsement" folder
3. Save the electronic copy of the scorecard and/or endorsement to the correct folder using the correct file format:

After saving the file, go to the CEC tracking sheet and enter the date you found the rating or endorsement, the name of the SIG, the data type (rating/endorsement), and the span. This is an important step. Without filling out a new row in the CEC tracking sheet, data that was researched and saved will not be entered.

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If a SIG is no longer a SIG

Some of the SIGs we follow will close their doors and will no longer exist in the world of SIGs. When you come across news articles or other reliable sources which notify you that this is the case: delete contact information and include the following phrase at the end of the group's description "This organization was dissolved in [date of closure]. Its archives are kept here as a public service. - Project Vote Smart". Please keep the categories/tags, description of group, ratings, and endorsements for the group. In the tracking sheet, enter "inactive" in the status column and not why it's inactive in the notes column.

Contacting Groups

When you cannot find a rating online, you will be asked to contact the SIG. Sometimes calling is the most effective; for other groups, email is best. Some groups respond well to the contact form on their websites. We should have the SIG contact information in admin, but if we don't then go to the group's website and use the phone or emails listed (and please update our admin!). Some organizations will provide phone numbers and email addresses for specific staff members. Try to contact staff in Legislative/Government Affairs or Research departments. You can use the templates provided in the Contact Templates Appendix. Faxing and mailing requests is rarely done, but your supervisor may ask you to do it.

We try to make a reasonable effort to contact special interest groups. A reasonable effort is usually 3 contacts using 2 methods of contacting each year. So, groups that have been contacted 3 times already this year can be skipped. Be sure to update the contact log corresponding to the relevant SIG on the ratings database spreadsheet.

Back to SIGs Guide

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