Brian F. Schaffner

Public Opinion Lab

The Tufts Public Opinion Lab (TPOL) is dedicated to studying contemporary controversies in American public opinion using quantitative data analysis. Lab members publish their research on the Lab's blog which attracts thousands of readers. They have also published their research in some of the discipline's top journals and have won national awards for their research.

If you are a student interested in joining the lab, click here for more information. To be eligible to join, students must have at least completed the Political Science Research Methods course (PS 103).

Peer reviewed journal publications by TPOL Members

published in Plos One in 2025

published in the journal Political Behavior in 2023

published in PS: Political Science & Politics in 2024

published in PS: Political Science & Politics in 2022

published in American Politics Research in 2024

Award Winning Research

Tufts Public Opinion Lab members consistently produce award-winning research. Students from the lab have won the Best Student Paper Award from the New England Chapter of the American Association for Public Opinion Research on four separate occasions.

2025:
- Kyle Krell, "Silent Identities: The Dynamics and Impacts of “Not Sure” Responses to Non-Policy Questions"
2023:
- Thomas Hershewe and Asher Smith, "Stacked or Subordinate? Exploring the Relationship between Rural and Partisan Identities"
2021 (shared):
- Brendan Hartnett and Aly Haver, "Impact of Popular Vote Margins on Accepting 2020 Presidential Election Results"
- Lucas Pyle and Ryan Shaffer, "Combatting partisanship in measures of issue salience: A novel approach"