We study how colleges shape their students' voting habits by linking millions of SAT takers to their college-enrollment and voting histories. To begin, we show that the fraction of students from a particular college who vote varies systematically by the college's attributes (e.g. increasing with selectivity) but also that seemingly similar…

Despite recent and growing interest in using Twitter to examine human behavior and attitudes, there is still significant room for growth regarding the ability to leverage Twitter data for social science research. In particular, gleaning demographic information about Twitter users--a key component of much social science research--remains a…

Discusses the impact of the youth vote on school elections and the finance proposals necessary to support schools. (RK)

This study investigated the relationship between media use and political activity in a sample of 380 Charlotte, North Carolina, registered voters. Although voters were interested in the campaign (particularly as it came to an end), they rarely engaged in political activities other than discussing politics and voting. Political activities measured…

This study was part of a larger study examining the attitudes of various groups toward elections, campaigns, and a variety of issues. This portion of the study dealt with students, 336 of whom were interviewed. In addition, 40 questionnaires were randomly drawn from two groups of students--those who registered to vote and those who did not. The…

In a presidential election campaign, any dimension of an image is important if it motivates the voters to favor or disfavor a candidate. Therefore, to study what motivates electoral behavior is one way to study the persuasion of image building in presidential campaigns. In this paper some of the research in presidential election campaigns is…

Examining school board elections in Tucson, Arizona, the study focused on the extent to which voters preferred candidates of their own racial/ethnic background, the socio-political factors affecting the voters' preferences, and the degree of voter polarization among Chicano and Anglo voters. Data were derived from the Pima County Election Bureau,…

An aspect of the Lansing, Michigan desegregation process that is examined in this paper is the school elections which have been held since 1969. The purpose of this examination is to determine what, if any, reliable voting patterns can be found in the Lansing community relative to the desegregation process. The assumption underlying this analysis…

This resource unit, developed by the University of Minnesota's Project Social Studies, introduces eighth graders to political parties and elections. Ways in which political scientists study voting behavior, sampling techniques, problems arising from interpreting findings, and the use of correlational studies are presented. The unit includes an…

This resource unit, developed by the University of Minnesota's Project Social Studies, introduces eighth graders to the legislative process. The unit uses case studies such as the Civil Rights Acts of 1960 and 1964 and attempts to change the Rules Committee in 1961. It also uses much data on background of congressmen and on distribution of…

Summarizes and reports on a large body of statistical evidence that suggests US voting patterns relate more to general attitudes and beliefs than to any substantive evaluation of policy positions. Studies reveal that voter preference often is determined by parental influence and party loyalty. Discusses possible reasons and implications. (MJP)