The University of South Carolina Aiken Social Sciences and Business Research Lab (SSBRL) is a long-running organization within USCA. The official page of the lab is here.
Since fall of 2015, I have served as director of the SSBRL. On this page are a number of research reports I have completed as a result of my work at the SSBRL. Please see my research page for academic peer-reviewed publications and my data page for datasets I have compiled (including those as a result of my work at the SSBRL). Because the lab does contract work for organizations in the Aiken-Augusta area, some data and reports are proprietary.
Exit Polls
For over 20 years, the SSBRL has, first under the direction of Robert Botsch and then under myself, conducted biennial exit polls of federal elections in Aiken County. These polls serve a dual function of educating and informing. The polls utilize USCA political science majors as poll workers, giving students a first-hand opportunity to be involved in public opinion research. A number of these students have gone on to become noted professionals in the public opinion research field. The exit poll data also helps provide a longitudinal picture of Aiken County as well as a forum to test hypotheses, particularly about local elections, for academic research. Polls and information prior to the 2016 elections can be found at the official SSBRL lab page.
2016 Exit Poll – The SSBRL conducted a representative exit poll of Aiken County utilizing ten precincts in eight polling locations. Students completed 755 interviews with Aiken County voters, asking a variety of questions relating to this contentious and important election. The final report revealed important insights on the effect of Trump on Aiken politics as well as how the political views of Aiken residents are changing and staying the same. Final report is here. The dataset is available on the data page here.
2018 Exit Poll – The 2018 SSBRL exit poll was a collaborative effort between USCA and researchers at Harvard and Princeton Universities. This poll was the largest and most complex in USCA history and consisted of three overlapping surveys: one of Aiken County, one of State House District 81 and one of State House District 84. The focus of this poll was on voter behavior and attitudes relating to local elections, especially for the state legislature. The poll included almost 1000 surveys and provided large samples for all three geographies. Research products are still being generated from this survey. However, the lab generated a research report on the effect of the straight party voting option as well as a research summary of the State House 81 and 84 districts. The datasets are available on the data page here.
Abortion Attitudes in Aiken County – The SSBRL leveraged its decades of research on Aiken County to examine abortion attitudes in the area in the wake of the Dobbs decision. We find both longitudinal stability in attitudes on abortion, as well as nuance in opinion going beyond a simple binary. The report is available here.
South Carolina School Tax Policy and Act 388
In 2021, the SSBRL partnered with USC Aiken faculty member Dr. Sarah Young to conduct a mail survey of South Carolina residents regarding their knowledge and opinion on school taxes. South Carolina is unique among US states in that 100% of the value of an owner-occupied home is exempt from school property taxes. Our survey revealed both broad ignorance of this exemption, and significant differences between groups. A report on survey findings is available here.
City Survey of Aiken
In 2017, the SSBRL undertook a 600-person phone survey of the City of Aiken on behalf of the City Manager’s office. Students served as telephone interviewers and completed the 600+ interviews in record time. The survey yielded valuable information for the government of Aiken regarding the attitudes of residents in the city. The final report presented to the City of Aiken is available here. The dataset is the property of the City of Aiken.