This class will provide you with the practical research skills required to design, field, evaluate, and analyze a sample survey with and focus on elections. It will combine statistical theory with actual practice and exploration, taking the insights of political scientists and political practitioners and rolling them into one. We will take special advantage of the fact that this class is taking place during the Democratic presidential primaries and in the run-up to the 2020 general election. We are in a data and information rich environment and will analyze and gather data in real time. Although the focus of this class is on political polling, the basics convey to all sorts of other survey studies. And, even if politics is not a career goal, understanding how to conduct, consume, and think about research is a valuable professional skill, crucial for anybody who is gathering evidence to make decisions in a variety of fields.
*Requirement for ALL semester students:
The last four weeks of this semester (March 25 to April 15) will be spent in a special topics module taught by Professor Jennifer Diascro on Wednesdays, 6:30-9:30 p.m. This module will account for 15% of the core seminar final course grade. Please contact Professor Diascro (jennifer.diascro@ucdc.edu) with questions.
Professor Goldstein will begin teaching the Polling seminar on Thursdays, beginning January 9, and he will officially be your instructor of record for the term, responsible for computing and submitting final course grades at the end of the term.
**NO additional registration required.