A political science professor is asking students who have dropped a course or received a low grade because they didn’t complete a class for their reasons why.

Professor Dan Nataf said research showing that about 25% of students who enroll in AACC courses either drop or earn grades of D or F prompted him to include questions about the trend  in a broader survey he regularly sends to Anne Arundel County residents.

“I hope I get a lot of students … to partake in the survey,” Nataf said. “The more of them that partake, the better … we’ll understand what the truth is about all the issues that are in it.”

The survey is available online until Oct. 30.

Nataf, the director of the Center for the Study for Local Issues, which runs the survey every semester, said 120 students have already responded, and he’s aiming for 200.

In addition to the student questions, the survey polls students and county residents about issues ranging from government services to their views about world events and the state of the economy.

Nataf said the survey starts with repeat questions from past surveys.

The “goal of the survey is to understand how things are changing,” Nataf said. “The first few minutes of the surveys are focused on that.”

The next section of the questionnaire focuses on current issues like the economy, school systems, abortion and gun rights.

Nataf said surveys like this are  important because “you never know the exact numbers until you ask.”

Nataf added: “Surveys will add precision to a generalization. The way you are able to give more precision to language and to generalizations is what I like about surveys. It makes it more exacting.”