Is the Left-Right Scale a Valid Measure of Ideology?

Bauer, Paul C.; Barberá, Pablo; Ackermann, Kathrin; Venetz, Aaron

doi:10.1007/s11109-016-9368-2

Cited by 189 publications

(105 citation statements)

References 61 publications

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“…We see two possible explanations for this: First, the concept of "democracy" appears to have been relatively vague for the majority of the respondents. This explanation corresponds to the finding of Bauer et al (2017) that the meaning and interpretation of the political concepts "left" and "right" varied across respondents, which led the authors to conclude that this may also be the case for other abstract concepts used in survey questions. Second, the respondents may have given a reason in the "democracy" category as an ex-post-legitimation of their answer to the closed question on voting participation.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 70%

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What can we learn from open questions in surveys? A case study on non-voting reported in the 2013 German longitudinal election study

2020

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Open survey questions are often used to evaluate closed questions. However, they can fulfil this function only if there is a strong link between answers to open questions and answers to related closed questions. Using reasons for non-voting reported in the German Longitudinal Election Study 2013, we investigated this link by examining whether the reported reasons for non-voting may be substantive reasons or ex-post legitimations. We tested five theoretically derived hypotheses about respondents who gave, or did not give, a specific reason. Results showed that (a) answers to open questions were indeed related to answers to closed questions and could be used in explanatory turnout models to predict voting behavior, and (b) the relationship between answers to open and closed questions and the predictive power of reasons given in response to the open questions were stronger in the post-election survey (reported behavior) than in the pre-election survey (intended behavior).

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 70%

“…Using another approach, Bauer, Barberá, Ackermann, and Venetz (2017) investigated the validity of responses to open questions by using related closed questions. Respondents were asked open questions about the meanings of the political terms "left" and "right. "…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

What can we learn from open questions in surveys? A case study on non-voting reported in the 2013 German longitudinal election study

2020

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“…9). This corresponds to the fi ndings of a study by Bauer et al (2017: Fig. 10), where Germans were asked open-ended interview questions about the meaning of the term "left" in politics.…”

Section: Critical Summary and Outlookmentioning

confidence: 94%

On the Use of Microsimulation for Investigating Ideological Dissent: Exemplary Analyses of the Values of the European Political Left

Mueller

2017

Ask: Research and Methods

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“…It is an extension of the LDA algorithm developed by Blei et al () and allows for the incorporation of metadata into the modeling process (Roberts et al, ). The model has been used successfully to study beliefs on climate change (Mildenberger & Tingley, ) or respondents’ understandings of the political left–right scale (Bauer, Barberá, Ackermann, & Venetz, ).…”

Section: Data Methods and Model Evaluationmentioning

confidence: 99%

A paradigm shift in German family policy: Applying a topic model to map reform and public discourse, 1990–2016

Gülzau

2019

European Policy Analysis

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This article explores the newspaper discourse surrounding a paradigm shift in social policy. The case at hand, Germany, is a prime example of a welfare state that was particularly resistant to reform. Hence, the rapid paradigm shift in German family policy since the late 1990s is puzzling. This study seeks to resolve this puzzle by drawing on the insight that public discourse is crucial for policy change. Politicians have to promote reforms prior to their implementation. The main channel for communication with the wider public is the mass media. I use newspaper coverage from 1990 to 2016 to analyze whether the media is responsive to reform initiatives. I use topic modeling, an innovative method from the computational social sciences (CSS), to identify dominant themes and shifts over time in a large corpus of newspaper articles (N = 1,459). The analysis shows that public discourse was responsive to the parliamentary debate. The article also clarifies the role of critical events and identifies discursive strategies. K E Y W O R D Scritical events, discourse analysis, early childhood education and care (ECEC), family policies, topic models | 101 GÜLZAU

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Is the Left-Right Scale a Valid Measure of Ideology?

Abstract: Is the left-right scale a valid measure of ideology? Individual-level variation in associations with "left" and "right" and left-right self-placement

Cited by 189 publications

References 61 publications

What can we learn from open questions in surveys? A case study on non-voting reported in the 2013 German longitudinal election study

What can we learn from open questions in surveys? A case study on non-voting reported in the 2013 German longitudinal election study

On the Use of Microsimulation for Investigating Ideological Dissent: Exemplary Analyses of the Values of the European Political Left

A paradigm shift in German family policy: Applying a topic model to map reform and public discourse, 1990–2016

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