BVP Pilot Study

2017 Black Voter Project Pilot Study

Description of Study

The initial Black Voter Project public opinion survey collected data from an online questionnaire administered by Survey Sample International (SSI), which is a non-partisan, survey research center with access to mobile panels for market and academic research. Dr. Christopher Towler, an Assistant Professor of Political Science, is the principal investigator on this survey. The survey was administered online based on randomly selected email addresses from lists of panel respondents who identify as African-American or black. An online questionnaire was fielded throughout the month of April, 2017. With a total 511 African-American respondents, the survey had an average interview length of 18.5 min with an incident rate (completes/completes + screened) of 76.5%. The survey was stratified across age, education, and gender evenly distributing respondents across the states of GA, MI, MO, OH, NC, VA, and CA.


Purpose of Study

The BVP Pilot Study was designed with three objectives in mind:

1) An exploration of the relationship between Donald Trump - symbolic of an anti-black political environment, and African American political engagement.

2) An examination of black identification with the Black Lives Matter movement, and how movement sympathy is related to political attitudes and behavior.

3) To foster an understanding of what black politics may look like in the wake of President Obama's tenure.