CECE Researchers Survey Rallies as Action Grows Around the Country
As demonstrations have become more commonplace in Washington, DC, CECE has deployed teams of researchers to many of the larger rallies to document trends in activism and civic engagement. To date, we have collected data at the People’s March in January, the Stand Up for Science Rally in March, and the HandsOff Rally in April. To date, the research teams, which include AU students and CECE members, have collected data through nearly 1,000 surveys from random samples of participants at these legally permitted demonstrations.
At each event, participants are asked about their levels of civic engagement, demographic traits, political beliefs, motivations for attending, and much more. Our findings document that participants at these gatherings tend to be predominantly female, white, highly educated, and middle-aged. The research also aims to assess best methodological practices for data collection at a large-scale demonstrations. To that end, we have been running a field experiment at these rallies to test the reliability and efficiency of data collection through tablets provided by researchers versus through QR, which facilitate participants completing the surveys on their own phones. Overall, the data provide novel opportunities to advance the research on how to study participants at large-scale events, as well as the role that peaceful demonstrations play in contemporary social movements.
