Bring a Chair: Getting Methods Students out of the Classroom and into the Field

• In Event: Multiple Methods for Civic Engagement

Abstract

On March 3, 2020, just weeks before Covid-19 shifted universities nationwide to online learning, Political Science students from Loyola Marymount University and California State University – Long Beach, participated in a field study conducting survey analysis on election day for the 2020 Democratic Primary. The purpose of their work was to survey on the subject of Los Angeles Voting Centers. While primarily run through a branch of the Political Science Department at LMU called StudyLA, CSULB students enrolled in Methods courses were also able to engage in the polling work due to my employment at both institutions. In the weeks leading up to election day, Methods students at both universities trained extensively in how to construct surveys, how to run surveys, how to analyze surveys, and how to approach real people at physical polling sites to conduct questionnaires. Students were also given firsthand experience in IRB training, coordination of administration, and the importance of building research projects off of prior academic work. This paper is the story of a 7-week journey in preparing students for a methodological civic engagement exercise at the polls, beginning with my acceptance of the project, the process of facilitating CSULB into the event, and the experiences of my students throughout the semester and on election day. I will explain the routes needed to facilitate coordination between two institutions, one private and one public, and the challenges my students faced while getting firsthand experience engaging in social science fieldwork. Overall, students faced a tedious several weeks of work culminating on election day, but a majority found the experience fulfilling and some even described the day as the most informative experience they had during college. It is my hope to build off of the lessons learned in the 2020 project and continue to administer the exercise with all Methods students when in-person instruction resumes.

Author

• Douglas M. Cantor, Loyola Marymount University