Examining Political Psychology with Qualtrics

November 12, 2013
Examining Political Psychology with Qualtrics

Government 1372: Political Psychology investigated the psychological mechanisms behind political behaviors and institutions. From voting and campaigns to political violence and racial attitudes, Professor Ryan Enos not only asked what happened, but also examined how human psychology made it happen. The discussion was not an abstract one; Professor Enos used in-class polling to measure students’ attitudes on the course topics.

Professor Enos had been relying on a combination of digital Poll Everywhere surveys and paper surveys for his in-class polls, so his PITF proposal focused on streamlining his polling methods. The project goals were to:

  • Transfer existing surveys and experiments to a single format that could send materials to the class every week
  • Track student participation while keeping responses anonymous
  • Visualize data in real time, through either the survey program or a script run on the instructor’s laptop

Political Psychology Survey Results

Qualtrics—web-based survey software with a simple user interface, flexible question types, and robust reporting—was the obvious replacement for the old polling system. ATG staff and PITFs developed 9 Qualtrics surveys (as well as instructional material for teaching staff on how to set up and distribute surveys) that Government 1372 students completed during lectures over the course of the semester. The instructor then exported the results to R and used R graphic capabilities to display the results in class alongside national results for the same surveys (see example above).

For more information, visit the course website and Harvard’s Qualtrics page