'Neither agree, nor disagree': a critical analysis of the middle answer category in Voting Advice Applications

Baka, Aphrodite; Figgou, Lia; Triga, Vasiliki

doi:10.1504/ijeg.2012.051306

Cited by 90 publications

(76 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…Entre los tópicos estudiados con relación al formato, destacan los estudios que analizan los argumentos a favor y en contra de incluir una opción intermedia (opción de indecisión o ambivalencia) entre las alternativas de respuesta. Estos argumentos están estrechamente vinculados a los sesgos de tendencia central y deseabilidad social, tal como se ha puesto de manifiesto en varios estudios (Baka y Figgou, 2012;Johns, 2005).…”

Section: Categorías Temáticas O Tópicosunclassified

“…Sin embargo, las razones para incluir o no incluir esta alternativa son causa de debate (Ayidiya y McClendon, 1990;Baka y Figgou, 2012;Bishop, 1987;Moors, 2008). Así, Garland (1991) afirmaba que la eliminación de esta alternativa disminuía el sesgo de deseabilidad social.…”

Section: Categorías Temáticas O Tópicosunclassified

“…En este sentido, hay que prestar atención a la legibilidad y claridad del ítem (Baka y Figgou, 2012) un aspecto poco tratado en la literatura consultada (Saris, Veld, y Gallhofer, 2004).…”

Section: Categorías Temáticas O Tópicosunclassified

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Diseño del formato de escalas tipo Likert: un estado de la cuestión

Matas

2018

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ResumenLas escalas tipo Likert constituyen uno de los instrumentos más utilizados en Ciencias Sociales y estudios de mercado. No obstante, existe cierto debate sobre el formato de estas escalas para obtener datos de calidad. En este artículo se presenta un estudio de revisión sobre los formatos de las escala tipo Likert y su relación con la calidad de los datos que es posible obtener con ellos. Para ello se ha realizado una revisión sistemática junto con una síntesis del contenido, identificando un conjunto de temas o tópicos relevantes por sus implicaciones metodológicas: sesgos y estilos de respuesta, el número óptimo de alternativas, las razones de elección de la alternativa intermedia y el efecto de la alternativa ‚No opino‛. Con base en el análisis y discusión de estos temas se presentan algunas recomendaciones de formato en las conclusiones del estudio.Palabras clave: Escala Likert, encuestas, datos de investigación, sesgo. AbstractLikert-type scales are one of the most commonly used instruments in social sciences and market research. Nonetheless, there is some debate regarding the format needed in these scales to obtain quality data. This study is a review of Likert-type scale formats and their association with data quality. To that effect, a systematic review was performed, along with a synthesis of content, to identify a series of topics that are relevant due to their methodological implications: response bias and styles, the optimal number of alternatives, reasons for choosing the intermediate response, and the effect of the ‚No Opinion‛ alternative. On the basis of an analysis and discussion of these topics, the study presents some recommendations for formatting in the conclusions.

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Section: Categorías Temáticas O Tópicosunclassified

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Diseño del formato de escalas tipo Likert: un estado de la cuestión

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2018

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330

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“…However, matching voters to political actors is simple only in the abstract. Recent work highlights that various aspects related to VAA design affect the quality of the ideological congruence estimates, including item wording (Gemenis, 2013), item selection (Walgrave et al, 2009), the matching algorithm (Mendez, 2012) and the rating scale format (Baka et al, 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatial maps in voting advice applications: The case for dynamic scale validation

et al. 2014

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Low-dimensional spatial representations of political preferences are a widespread feature of voting advice applications (VAAs). Currently, VAA spatial maps tend to be defined on the basis of a priori reasoning. This article argues that VAA spatial maps should be empirically validated to safeguard fundamental psychometric properties -in particular, unidimensionality and reliability. We suggest dynamic scale validation as a pragmatic method for improving measurement quality in VAA spatial maps. The basic logic of dynamic scale validation is to exploit early user data as a benchmark against which ex-ante defined maps can be evaluated. We draw on data from one of the most institutionalised VAA settings, Switzerland, to illustrate this dynamic approach to scale validation.

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“…This is because 'no opinion' was intended to indicate a lack of interest or knowledge of the issue, while 'neither agree nor disagree' was intended to represent a middle position. Psychological research into the behaviour of voter advice application (VAA) users suggests that users do indeed evaluate these two response categories as separate (Baka et al, 2012). 10.…”

Section: Notesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dimensionality of Policy Space in Consociational Northern Ireland

2016

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A criticism of consociational power sharing as an institutional response to violent conflict is that it buttresses rather than ameliorates the underlying (linguistic, religious or ethno-national) divide, hence prohibiting the emergence of new dimensions of political competition (such as economic left-right or moral liberal-conservative dimensions) that are characteristic of 'normal' societies. We test this argument in the context of the illustrative Northern Ireland case, using data from expert coding of party policy documents and opinion data derived from two Voter Advice Applications (VAAs). We find evidence for a moral liberal-conservative dimension of politics in addition to the ethno-national dimension. Hence, we caution against assuming that consociational polities are unidimensional. Keywordspost-conflict democracy, consociation, multidimensional politics, Northern Ireland, liberalconservative dimension Accepted: 11 May 2016 One response to violent conflict in deeply divided places is to implement consociational power-sharing arrangements. Political parties from the opposing groups in society enter an inclusive coalition government, and each group is given a right of veto over important legislation that may adversely affect their particular community. There is quite a heated normative debate over the merits and demerits of the power-sharing approach to conflict resolution. 1 Proponents argue that it is a system that is most likely to generate a secure and peaceful polity in which all groups are included in decision-making. Critics argue that

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'Neither agree, nor disagree': a critical analysis of the middle answer category in Voting Advice Applications

Cited by 90 publications

References 46 publications

Diseño del formato de escalas tipo Likert: un estado de la cuestión

Diseño del formato de escalas tipo Likert: un estado de la cuestión

Spatial maps in voting advice applications: The case for dynamic scale validation

Dimensionality of Policy Space in Consociational Northern Ireland

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