Ashwell and Dryer took their idea to IOP leaders to obtain funding for the survey, and hired an opinion researcher to serve as an adviser.

Each week, Ashwell, Dryer, the advisor and a committee of students met to design the survey.

"I see government as a vehicle for changing the world around me, but many young people don't see national or even state politics as a way of changing things," said committee member Kara A. Shamy '03. "I wanted to see why that was."

Before administering the survey, the committee also convened two focus groups of students from Harvard and other area colleges to determine ways that students can become more involved in politics on campus.

"Access to political information and resources is a big issue," wrote Anne Aaron, IOP director of outreach and communications in an e-mail message. "Students say they would prefer that political information be better, that political involvement be made easier. They also want better and easier access to direct democracy; they expressed strong support for measures that would simplify the process of registering and voting."

While 68.6 percent of students polled said they would vote in the next election, 82.6 percent said they would definitely vote if they had the option to vote over the Internet.

IOP Director Alan K. Simpson said the fact that only around 70 percent of respondents said they were currently registered to vote indicates that a considerable amount more needs to be done to get students registered. "The very core of any political activity is voting," Simpson said. Simpson, a former senator from Wyoming, said the future of Medicare and social security should be particularly important to students.