To find out just how UD students really feel about a wide range of political and social issues, including campus life, students in David Wilson's Problems in American Politics class have created the Blue Hen Poll 2008.
On March 13, Wilson, an assistant professor of political science and international relations and Black American Studies, joined political science majors on the Blue Hen Poll Research Team to officially inaugurate the poll, which will be sent to 1,500 undergraduates on UD's Newark campus.
About 60 members of the UD community attended the event in the Trabant University Center.
“Before I came to UD I worked for Gallup in Washington, D.C., and polling has been one of my passions,” Wilson said. “I wanted to introduce the methodology that would give voice to the students and allow them to be heard on a wide range of issues.”
To promote, gather and process information, the research is comprised of three groups, including public relations, marketing and data analysis.
The list of students who are being polled was provided with assistance from UD's Office of Institutional Research and Planning, while Dick Sacher, of IT-User Services, helped provide the group with research software to set up the computer-assisted, self-interviewing questionnaire. Also providing support was Havidán Rodríguez, vice-provost for Academic Affairs and International Programs, and the Office of the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.
“We want to get the word out and remind people that this is the first poll of students, by students, at UD,” Justine Winkler, a senior political science and international relations major, said. “We want to encourage democracy at UD and inform the UD community. Our class has really learned a lot by doing this.”
Luke Dominica, a member of the data analysis group, said that the survey should take about eight to 10 minutes to complete.
“To increase the response rate we will be publishing a sample questionnaire,” Dominica said. “We will be presenting a general sampling of our findings at another public meeting on May 6."
Wilson said the analysis of student responses begins on April 11, with the final results being presented from 1:30-3 p.m., Tuesday, May 6, in Multipurpose Room A of the Trabant University Center.
Major television networks such as CBS and ABC, as well as the Gallup polls, have been invited to the May 6 presentation, Wilson said.
Seif Hussain, a junior political science major, said the marketing team has been trying to get the world out to the students about the Blue Hen Poll 2008.
“We hope we have created some sort of buzz about this on campus,” Hussain said. “Our goal is not to measure student apathy, but maybe to prove it is just he opposite here at UD. We'll just have to wait to see the results.”
Junior Richard Goldschein added that the main goal of the marketing group was to get as high a response rate as possible from students being polled.
“We have been working with our public relations group and have been designing posters, giving out candy and using kiosks in the Trabant University Center to get the word out,” Goldschein said. “We want students to feel that this poll is something they would want to do and not something they are pressured about.”
Article by Jerry Rhodes
Photo by Kathy Atkinson