Survey Lab

About

Founded in 2012, the Laboratory for the Study of American Values (the Survey Lab) supports graduate students who are writing dissertations about American public opinion. The Lab seeks to enhance the research productivity and career success of graduate students, by giving them opportunities to conduct original surveys of nationally representative samples of adults. The lab also aims to yield rich new insights about American values by running studies that draw upon the interdisciplinary excellence of the social sciences at Stanford. The program's founding directors are Paul Sniderman and Michael Tomz. For descriptions of previous years' projects, see the list of Past Survey Lab students; you can also scroll to the bottom of this page for a list of dissertations and publications that incorporated results from Survey Lab projects.

The lab is comprised of the following two components:

1. Laboratory-style seminar: Professors Paul Sniderman and Michael Tomz will be offering a two-quarter class, Survey Lab I and II (POLISCI 423A and 423B, also listed as SOC 364A and 364B). The lab will provide training on all stages of the survey research process and create a collegial environment in which lab members can coordinate their efforts. The 2024–25 lab will meet in the winter and spring on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 10:30–11:50am. This is a two-quarter commitment. To participate in the lab and run lab-funded surveys, students must take both quarters.
2. Public opinion polls: As part of the lab, we will field several surveys to samples of adults in the United States. Members of the lab will have opportunities to include survey experiments that are important for their dissertations, and they will receive the data at no cost. The surveys will be conducted by internet polling firms and will be custom-tailored to fit the needs of graduate students in the class. Our aim is to help graduate students learn how to design and conduct major studies that will launch their careers.

Eligibility

We invite applications from doctoral students in the:

• Department of Anthropology
• Department of Communication 
• Department of Economics
• Department of Political Science 
• Department of Psychology 
• Department of Sociology
• Graduate School of Business
• Graduate School of Education
• Law School (JSD Program)
• School of Medicine

Students who participated in a previous year may apply to participate again.

Applying to participate 

Students must submit a proposal (maximum 4 pages) that:

• describes a research question;
• states a hypothesis;
• sketches the questions and/or experiments they would like to field.

The 2024–2025 application cycle is now closed.

New proposals will be considered in Fall 2026.