MT Poll Lab Location & Info

How to get to the Middle Tennessee Poll lab

The Middle Tennessee Poll Lab is located in BAS S302, a room in the south wing of the Business/Aerospace Building. You can get there by going into the Business/Aerospace Building, taking any elevator to the third floor, then finding the room by consulting one of the room number maps posted in the floor's hallways. But if you want to know the shortest possible route, here it is:

Enter the Business/Aerospace Building through the entrance that faces east. For those of you who navigate by landmarks instead of compass points, that's the entrance that faces the Intramural Field and the Campus Recreation Center.
Inside, you'll find yourself in a small lobby. Walk forward, following the wall on your right, until you see a hallway leading off to the right.
Walk down that hallway a few paces until you see an elevator entrance on your left. If you need a reference point, the elevator entrance is right next to the S105 Machine Room.
Take the elevator to the third floor.
When the elevator doors open on the third floor, you'll see a set of double doors a few paces ahead of you. The double doors lead into the third floor's main hallway. Walk through the double doors.
Ahead of you and a bit to the left, you'll see Room S302. That's the poll lab.

What to expect when you get there

Show up at the lab at the appropriate time and date for the session you registered for. Inside the lab, find the computer workstation that corresponds to the seat number you registered for. Each workstation will consist of a computer and a telephone headset. After an approximately half-hour training session led by the poll's field director on how to use the computer equipment and headset, you'll start making calls. That means you will log onto the computer, and the computer will show a (randomly generated) telephone number on the screen, which you will dial using the telephone headset.

Several possible outcomes may result - for example, the number may be a nonworking number, or the telephone at the other end of the line may ring and ring without being answered, or an answering machine may pick up, or the line may be busy, etc. If, for any of those reasons, a real person doesn't answer, the you will hang up, hit a key on the computer keyboard, and bring up a menu that will allow you to record what happened.

The computer will then produce another telephone number so you can try again. If a person answers, you will hit a different key that will present an introductory script designed to explain what the poll is about, find out whether the person who answered is at a home telephone (you'll hang up and try a different number if it's a business number) and, if so, randomly select a person age 18 or older within that household to interview.

If that person agrees to be interviewed, the interview will begin. After you hit a key, the computer will show the first poll question and a numbered list of answers. You will read the question and hit a key that corresponds to the answer the person gave. The computer will then show the next question, which you will read, and so on until the interview is over. Once the interview is over, you will hang up and hit a key to start over again with a new number. You will continue in this fashion until the end of the four-hour session.

Wear whatever you want to wear, although we recommend bringing a jacket, sweater or sweatshirt that you can put on if the room gets a little too cool for you. You may of course take short breaks to visit the water fountain or restroom whenever you want to, but we will expect you to work as consistently as the other students throughout the four-hour session. There is no required number of interviews that you have to complete, but we've found that most students finish about four interviews during a typical polling session.

Yes, some of the people you will call will snap at you. But surprisingly few. Most who decline to be interviewed will do so politely. Many will apologize for not having time, and others will ask to be called back later. Of those who agree to be interviewed, most will actually enjoy the chance to give their opinions, and many will joke around with you as they answer the questions.

As you interview people, start thinking about which questions you'd like to see the results for. Once the poll is over, we'll post all of the results on the poll's web page. Many of you will be writing about the poll's results as part of a class assignment.