Northwestern Mutual Data Science Institute is working to help students get involved with national politics by researching the 2020 presidential campaign, a release issued on the Marquette University website said.

The institute is funding a research project that will investigate catalysts for voter behavior in the 2020 presidential election campaign.

The project, called the Elecurator project, started in January 2020 and looks into data sources such as social media, ads and conventional polling methods.

The project is being headed up by Dr. Purush Papatla, co-director of the Northwestern Mutual Data Science Institute and professor of marketing at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee; and Dr. Amber Wichowsky, associate professor in the Department of Political Science at Marquette University and director of the Marquette Democracy Lab.

Before the Democratic National Convention, students gathered and investigated data on social media, looked at candidate speeches, and transcripts from debated and political ads to examine the issues candidates are putting energy into.

After the Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee, the project was given the chance to look into relevant data and determine how it was impacted by Americans’ behavior.

“This project is perfectly aligned with the mission and vision of the Northwestern Mutual Data Science Institute,” Papatla said in the release. “We’re providing opportunities for students to cultivate the skills they will need for a future in data science while introducing them to societal and political issues that have an impact locally and nationally.”

Savannah Charles, a senior at Marquette University, reflected that the project was a great opportunity for her, despite her not having previous research background experience.

“I didn’t have an appetite for statistics prior to this but I really enjoyed working with the math and data side of things,” Charles said.

Emma Hazeltine, a junior at Marquette, noted that the project taught her valuable information she did not realize was applicable to her.

“I got involved after I learned this project and the DNC wasn’t just for political science students,” Hazeltine told the university.