Community Engagement & Experiments Lab

CEEL Research conducted through the laboratory covers a multitude of topics, but centers on the community at and around OU.  The mobile nature of the lab allows researchers to take the resources to fieldwork sites and so enables us to gather data in a natural environment.  Community members interested in participating in research at OU do not have to travel to OU to fill out a survey in a sterile laboratory setting: instead, trained OU undergraduate or graduate political science students can bring the survey to them.  With CEEL, we survey citizens at political events, canvass neighborhoods, and conduct behavioral games.  Current projects include an election exit poll in Oklahoma City, a survey of Oklahoman’s attitudes on immigration, and research on voting access, process and engagement in Oklahoma. We are also partnering with the Carl Albert Center at OU to collect oral histories of first time voters.

CEEL engages with the communities that surround us.  With our mobile lab we can reach community members who might otherwise be underrepresented in research.  CEEL’s first field project, conducted in collaboration with the Community Engagement Lab course, surveyed residents of south Oklahoma City about emergency weather preparedness in both English and Spanish.  On November 8th, 2016, CEEL conducted an election poll throughout Oklahoma City, recruiting participants from a diverse set of 12 precincts.  To encourage community engagement beyond the department, the lab is opening its doors to both researchers in other departments at OU as well as non-university community-based research initiatives.