No abstract

Protest surveys are increasingly used to tackle questions related to participation in social movements. However, it is unclear whether they generate useful and valid data. This study puts the protest survey design to the test by relying on data of 51 demonstrations (2009–2011) in seven European countries. We use data on 15,000 protest participants combined with screener questionnaires and extensive debriefing records of the interviewer teams. We account for noncontact (fieldwork problems), immediate and delayed refusal, and refusal bias. Results show that fieldwork problems are frequent, that immediate refusal is low, and that delayed refusal is considerable. Systematic refusal bias is only found for age and education. Differences between countries and protest issues are small but the issue determines the composition of an event which, in turn, leads to higher or lower refusal. Researchers should be cautious when using protest survey data to compare protest events across issues. The paper pleads for standardization and constant monitoring of the data-gathering process.

The frame alignment approach is one of the most influential mobilisation theories. This theory holds that frame alignment is a necessary condition for movement participation. The present study challenges this premise. Instead of treating frame alignment as a precondition for participation, the authors address it as something that should be empirically examined. And rather than distinguishing between either aligned or non-aligned protesters, they study frame alignment as a matter of degree. They do so drawing on protest surveys collected during 29 demonstrations in Belgium, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. The authors answer the following research questions: To what extent are the frames of protest organisers and participants aligned? And are there differences in degrees of alignment across framing tasks, countries and issues? The findings show that many participants are only partially aligned. The highest levels of alignment are found for the diagnostic framing task. The article finds few differences across countries and issues for general alignment levels, but sub-aspects do tend to differ.

This study analyzes the extent to which collective action frames with certain qualities resonate with protesters. It goes beyond previous research on frame resonance by directly examining the frames that demonstrators use to motivate their participation and by comparing them with the frames of social movement organizations. The data consist of protest surveys from more than 5,000 participants in twenty-nine street demonstrations on various issues in three countries—Belgium, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. Results show that frames that appeal to people's everyday experiences resonate more than abstract or technical frames do. Also, resonance is higher when blame for the issue is put on a specific person or organization than when intangible forces or causes are held responsible. A comparison of two Dutch student demonstrations illustrates the results. These events were similar in most aspects but differed in framing and the extent to which protesters aligned with the organizers' frames.

The frame alignment perspective emphasizes the importance of congruence in beliefs between protest participants and protest organizers. Although frame alignment is widely used in social movement research and matters for important movement processes, it has remained largely unclear how we can explain different degrees of frame alignment among protesters. We use empirical evidence regarding organizers' and participants' frames, surveying 4,000 protesters in twenty-nine demonstrations between 2009-2012 in Belgium, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. The results show that frame alignment depends on variables that tap into protesters' exposure to organizational and alternative messages. Especially participants who are recruited by staging organizations and events organized by strong and more professionalized organizations display higher levels of frame alignment, whereas salience of the protest issue in the political arena severely constrains reaching high degrees of frame alignment.