A newer version of the Streamlit SDK is available: 1.56.0
title: COGbot Silicon Sampling Dashboard
emoji: 🤖
colorFrom: blue
colorTo: purple
sdk: streamlit
sdk_version: 1.42.0
app_file: dashboard.py
pinned: false
license: mit
🤖 COGbot Dashboard - Silicon Sampling
Generate synthetic survey responses using AI-powered persona simulation.
🚀 Quick Start
- Choose your AI model (Free Zephyr, Claude, or ChatGPT)
- Enter your API key (only required for Claude/ChatGPT - Free option needs no key!)
- Write your survey question
- Generate responses from 2,204 ESS personas
- Download results as CSV
💡 What is Silicon Sampling?
Silicon sampling uses AI to generate synthetic survey responses based on real demographic personas. Each persona is built from European Social Survey (ESS) data and includes:
- Age, gender, education, occupation
- Political ideology, religious attendance
- Income, household composition
- Regional and ethnic background
✨ Features
Response Generation Mode
- Generate synthetic survey responses
- Multiple formats: Scale (0-10), Scale (1-5), Multiple Choice, Yes/No, Open Text
- Statistical summaries (mean, median, std dev)
- Automated thematic analysis for open text
- Download as CSV
Question Testing Mode
- Test draft survey questions for clarity
- Identify ambiguous wording
- Get improvement suggestions
- Validate questions before real fielding
💰 Cost
Free Option:
- HuggingFace Zephyr 7B: 100% FREE - no API key required!
- Rate-limited but perfect for moderate usage
- No cost to you or to us
Paid Options (if you want higher quality/speed):
- Claude (Anthropic): ~$0.015 per 50 responses Get key →
- ChatGPT (OpenAI): ~$0.01 per 50 responses Get key →
Example costs (paid models):
- 50 responses: ~$0.01-0.015
- 100 responses: ~$0.02-0.03
- 500 responses: ~$0.10-0.15
Your API key (if provided) is only used for your session and is never stored.
🎯 Use Cases
- Pilot Testing: Test survey instruments before fielding
- Question Refinement: Identify problematic wording
- Hypothesis Generation: Explore potential response patterns
- Survey Methods Teaching: Demonstrate questionnaire design
- Methodological Research: Study survey question effects
📊 Sample Data
Based on European Social Survey Round 9 UK data (2018):
- 2,204 respondents
- Representative UK demographics
- Rich persona backstories
🔒 Privacy & Security
- API keys are never logged or stored
- Used only for your current session
- Data sent only to your chosen AI provider
- No retention after session ends
📚 How It Works
- Persona Loading: Each respondent has a detailed backstory
- AI Prompting: Backstory becomes the AI's "persona"
- Question Answering: AI responds as that persona would
- Aggregation: Responses collected and analyzed
🎓 Citation
Based on European Social Survey Round 9 UK data (2018).
ESS Round 9: European Social Survey Round 9 Data (2018). Data file edition 3.1. Sikt - Norwegian Agency for Shared Services in Education and Research, Norway – Data Archive and distributor of ESS data for ESS ERIC. doi:10.21338/NSD-ESS9-2018.
📖 Documentation
⚠️ Important Notes
- Synthetic responses are for research/testing purposes only
- Should complement, not replace, real survey data
- Best used for question development and pilot testing
- Response quality depends on persona detail and AI model
🛠️ Technical Details
- Built with Streamlit
- Supports multiple AI models:
- Free: HuggingFace Zephyr 7B (via Inference API)
- Paid: Claude 3.5 Sonnet and GPT-4o-mini
- Processes 50 responses in ~1-2 minutes
- CSV export with all demographic variables
📧 Contact & Support
- GitHub Issues: Report bugs or request features
- Research Inquiries: Via GitHub
- Educational Use: Free for academic purposes
📄 License
MIT License - Free for research and educational use.
Developed by: Patrick Sturgis, LSE Department of Methodology
Powered by: Anthropic Claude & OpenAI GPT