Student Daily Digest

The Roper Center for Public Opinion Research is pleased to announce the winners for the spring 2014 Roper Award for Research Experience (RARE). These annual awards are given to provide outstanding University of Connecticut undergraduate students the opportunity to work with a mentor to develop their research and presentation skills.

This year, senior Molly Rockett, a Political Science major, will work with Professor Virginia Hettinger on a project to assess public perceptions of the judicial decision-making process using the Defense Research Institute National Poll on the Civil Justice System. The project, titled “Public Perception and Judicial Legitimacy," will explore citizens’ firsthand experiences as litigants, jurors, witnesses, or other roles in the legal system.

Sophomore Brian Tiedt, a Political Science and Economics double-major, will work on a project titled, “The Right to Bear Arms: The Role of Federalism in Gun Control Policy."  Mr. Tiedt, assisted by Professor Paul Herrnson, will use the data available in the Roper Center’s iPOLL database and a variety of data sets to consider the evolution of public opinion on gun control. Part of the research will address variations of opinion across states and regions.

RARE is sponsored in part by UConn’s Office of Undergraduate Research. It encourages undergraduates and faculty to use the resources of the Roper Center to develop original research projects. The Roper Center’s archives include public opinion data from the 1930s to the present.  Its holdings include data from the U.S. and more than 50 nations. 

Student award recipients receive a $1,500 stipend and Faculty recipients receive a $500 professional development stipend.  Learn more about the RARE Award and The Roper Center for Public Opinion Research.

 

For more information, contact: Darlene Hart at darlene.hart@uconn.edu