For decades, political research has shown that voters choose presidential candidates based on four perceived traits: honesty, leadership, competence and empathy. So Colin Jones ‘19 wants to know, why did voters in the 2016 election select Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton despite negative trait evaluations?
Jones, a political science and math major from Pella, received a grant from Central’s Arthur J. Bosch Endowment for Student Research to support his work this summer with professor of political science Andrew Green. Jones is analyzing recent data from the National Election Survey, which includes data from 5,000 voters in the 2016 election — plus previous national surveys conducted across more than 50 years.
It’s rewarding to tackle this difficult question and create brand-new research, Jones says — and an important step when considering a graduate degree. Plus, since Central supports original research with summer grants, he’s even getting paid for doing research. “Central provides a really supportive community for quality projects,” Jones says. “I don’t have to sacrifice the chance to earn this money this summer. I love data, and there are so many questions that I want to see answered.”
All Central’s summer researchers will present their work at a symposium on campus this year. Soon after, many also plan to take their studies to international conferences and publications to share their findings.
Read about more summer research to discover Central students’ work in taboo language, jury psychology, prairie biology and more.
