本研究以區別分析及深度訪談法探索台灣女性選民在選舉期間的政治與傳播行為特質。從2004年台灣總統大選及立委選舉的調查資料分析中發現，在同時控制了人口變項、政治心理特質及傳播行為後，女性選民的政治知識、政治興趣，以及對傳媒中選舉訊息的接觸程度，都低於男性選民。深度訪談結果也顯示，女性選民對家庭的重視，使女性選民在決定投票支持對象時，會特別重視候選人提出的經濟及教育政策及候選人的人品，並且在投票前會參考家人的意見。此外，性別因素不是女性選民是否支持女性候選人的唯一或最主要考慮因素。至於研究發現的涵義，是顯示女性選民的政治參與程度有待提升，或是反映了女性對政治品質的期望較高而失望較大，是需要進一步探討的問題。
This study examines the characteristics of Taiwan's female voters from political and communication perspectives. The results of discriminant analyses of survey data indicate that female voters' political knowledge or political interests are less than female voters. In addition, compared to male voters, female voters spend less time in attending to mass media's electoral information. A series of in-depth interviews also suggest that female voters are especially concerned about candidates' economic and education policies, because these policies may directly influence female voters' family lives. The family orientation also make female voters pay attention to candidates' personal characters and listen to family members' opinions for deciding which candidate they will support. Another research finding is that the gender stereotype is not a critical factor on female voters' decisions to support female candidates or not. Whether the research findings imply that the lower level of female voters' political participation is actually reflecting their greater expects and higher disappointments on Taiwan's political realities is an interesting question that deserves more careful studies in the future.
