Economic Preferences or Attitude Expressions?: An Analysis of Dollar Responses to Public Issues

Participants in contingent valuation surveys and jurors setting punitive damages in civil trials provide answers denominated in dollars. These answers are better understood as expressions of attitudes than as indications of economic preferences. Well-established characteristics of attitudes and of the core process of affective valuation explain several robust features of dollar responses: high correlations with other measures of attractiveness or aversiveness, insensitivity to scope, preference reversals, and the high variability of dollar responses relative to other measures of the same attitude.     

On the Contingent Valuation of Safety and the Safety of Contingent Valuation: Part 1-Caveat Investigator

This article reports the results of two studies aimed at testing and refining a procedure for estimating willingness-to-pay based monetary values of safety using the contingent valuation method. In spite of the fact that respondents were given the opportunity to discuss various safety issues and key concepts in focus group meetings held in advance of individual interviews, and were also given ample opportunity to revise their responses in the light of the overall pattern of these responses, the results show clear evidence of extensive and persistent insensitivity to the scale and scope of the safety improvements that were specified in the contingent valuation questions, as well as vulnerability to framing effects. This clearly casts serious doubt on the reliability and validity of willingness-to-pay based monetary values of safety estimated using conventional contingent valuation procedures.     

Credit and authorship practices: educational and environmental influences

A survey on credit issues of academic chemists in U.S. Ph.D.-granting institutions was conducted. The respondents rated 15 criteria for authorship of scientific publications; core intellectual contributions received the highest ratings although making a single suggestion that was essential to the successful completion of the project was rated very low. Acquisition of data was also rated highly. The respondents rated eight potential influences on their own "policy" toward giving credit; doing what "seems to be the right thing" was the highest rated influence followed by graduate educational experiences; professional society or other responsible conduct of research (RCR) institutional policies were rated, by far, the lowest.     

Credit and Authorship Practices: Educational and Environmental Influences

A survey on credit issues of academic chemists in U.S. Ph.D.-granting institutions was conducted. The respondents rated 15 criteria for authorship of scientific publications; core intellectual contributions received the highest ratings although making a single suggestion that was essential to the successful completion of the project was rated very low. Acquisition of data was also rated highly. The respondents rated eight potential influences on their own “policy” toward giving credit; doing what “seems to be the right thing” was the highest rated influence followed by graduate educational experiences; professional society or other responsible conduct of research (RCR) institutional policies were rated, by far, the lowest.     

The Influence of Spanish‐Language Media on Latino Public Opinion and Group Consciousness*

Objective. This article determines if the use of Spanish‐language media among Latinos influences public opinion on various policy issues and group consciousness. Methods. Using a 2004 national public opinion survey of U.S. Latinos, a multivariate analysis is run to determine the effect of language media preference on immigration policy, abortion, same‐sex marriage, and three measures of group consciousness. Results. I find more frequent use of Spanish‐language media leads to more liberal attitudes toward immigration, but has no effect on opinions toward abortion and same‐sex marriage. I also find increased use of Spanish‐language media leads to increased levels of group consciousness. Conclusions. The differences in attitudes are due to the diverging goals of Spanish‐language and English‐language media. The effect of using Spanish‐language media serves to promote a sense of group consciousness among Latinos by reinforcing roots in Latin America and the commonalities among Latinos of varying national origin.     

Public Opinion and Dynamic Representation in the American States: The Case of Environmental Attitudes*

Objective. We investigate causal processes linking environmental conditions, attitudes, and policies in the American states: Is public opinion about ecology shaped by environmental conditions? Are state policymakers responsive to environmental opinions? Does public opinion respond to policy adoption? Methods. Using public opinion data from the DDB Worldwide Life Style Survey to measure aggregate state attitudes about the environment, as well as measures of water quality and policy intervention, we capture the dynamics of representation in the American states on the environment during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Results. Our findings support a thermostatic model of representation—state environmental opinions are influenced by environmental conditions and are responsive to policy outputs alongside improved environmental conditions. Conclusions. This model of the opinion‐policy linkage refines our understanding of representation and focuses us not just on the passage of public policy to address public desires, but the effectiveness of that policy as well.     

On the validity of the estimates of the VSL from contingent valuation: Evidence from the Czech Republic

Journal of Risk and Uncertainty - We assess the reliability and validity of estimates of the Value per Statistical Life (VSL) from contingent valuation by administering the same contingent...     

Metrizing social preference

In his Introduction to Value Theory N. Rescher suggests a procedure by which individual valuations can be combined to yield meaningful and accurate social valuation measures. A social valuation is the effective average m ^* of individual valuations, such that: $$m^ * = m - \tfrac{1}{2}\sigma $$ , where m is the mean of individual valuations and σ the standard deviation of individual valuations from m. Rescher's employment of this concept of effective average has the following unacceptable features: (1) the effective average is undefined for the situation by which Rescher chooses to introduce the concept; (2) negative effective averages, which are calculable for many situations, are given no interpretation by Rescher; (3) some effective averages are lower than each individual valuation which figures in their computation, and as a consequence use of the concept of effective average to pinpoint social valuations favors conformity of individual valuations to an unjustifiable extent. Rescher doubts whether a conception of social welfare (or value) can be distilled from individual preferences (or valuations). His doubts are justified, for such a move would require a prior weighting of individual preferences in such a manner that social welfare measures could be arrived at solely by attending to the preferences of qualified individuals, making computation of a welfare measure from the set of individuals' preferences gratuitous.     

解决居民实际问题:居委会舆情疏导的重要方式

民众社会生活状况是舆情产生的基础,民众社会生活中的问题是影响舆情的中介性社会事项,民众对社会生活的感受是舆情的重要组成部分,解决居民实际问题是通过改变人们的生活状况、改变中介性社会事项和改变人们的生活感受疏导舆情,是居委会舆情疏导的基本着力点。     

Social Problem Solving in High‐risk Mother–Child Dyads: An Intergenerational Study

This study examined the contribution of maternal childhood histories of aggression and social withdrawal to the prediction of mother–child social problem solving in the next generation. Fifty‐seven women (M = 37.32 years), previously rated (on a version of the pupil evaluation inventory) by their peers during childhood on measures of aggression and withdrawal, discussed conflicts with their 9‐ to 13‐year‐old children. Problem‐defining statements, solutions, and resolution strategies were coded using an observational measure developed by the authors. Maternal childhood histories of aggression and withdrawal predicted poorly sophisticated solutions in both mothers and children as well as antisocial solutions in children. Histories of withdrawal predicted solitary solutions in children as well as less guidance and structure during decision making. Findings suggest that mothers who were withdrawn, and those aggressive and withdrawn in childhood, display less sophisticated problem solving, which may be mirrored in children. Results have implications for the development of aggressive and withdrawn girls into parenthood and highlight a potential pathway for the transfer of risk.     

Pope John Paul II and Catholic Opinion Toward the Death Penalty and Abortion*

Objective. Research on opinion leadership examines the convergence of opinion between elites and masses on issues of public policy. I examine the confluence of opinion between Pope John Paul II and American Catholics on the death penalty and legalized abortion. Method. I use data from three nationally representative opinion surveys and one statewide survey conducted prior to John Paul's death. Results. The results support the supposition that Catholics who esteemed the pope are more negative in their evaluations of the death penalty and abortion. Conclusions. John Paul II, as leader of the Catholic Church, may have influenced Catholic opinion on political issues.     

The political orientation of Blacks and Whites: Converging,diverging, or remaining constant?

This paper examines the extent to which patterns of public opinion between Blacks and Whites have converged, diverged, or remained constant since the late1970s. It explores how trends in public opinion reflect a decline in the role of race in the formation of pubic opinion. The findings show a slight convergence of public opinion between Blacks and Whites on some issues and stabilization on others depending of the nature of the issue. The data also showed that the magnitude of difference on most issues, other than those related to race, rarely constituted anything more than a gap in public opinion and not a gulf of chasm. The fact that significant differences continue to exist between Blacks’ and Whites’ public opinions suggest that race is still a significant indicator of opinion position.     

Willingness to Pay for Rehabilitation Versus Punishment to Reduce Adult and Juvenile Crime

Punitive penal policies are often justified on the assumption that members of the public demand punitive responses to crime. The current study employed a contingent valuation survey design to assess the extent to which this is true in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The survey investigated public willingness to pursue crime control policies that rehabilitate offenders versus those that punish. Using a quota‐based telephone survey, 1885 taxpaying residents in the state of New South Wales, Australia, were asked how much additional tax they would be willing to pay to produce a 10 per cent reduction in serious crime. A 2times2 randomised factorial design was employed, with one factor being the means offered to reduce crime (rehabilitation versus imprisonment) and the other factor being the population under study (adults versus juveniles). There were no significant differences in willingness to pay for crime reduction across any of the four resulting groups. The findings suggest that the NSW public are equally disposed to reducing crime by rehabilitating offenders as they are to imprisoning them for longer. There would therefore seem every reason to pursue rehabilitation with greater vigour, especially in light of the relative cost‐effectiveness of rehabilitation programs over incarceration.     

A Typology of European Values and Russians’ Basic Human Values

Research on social values of the Russian population usually is based on dominant or average values as reflected in public opinion surveys. The research reported in this article takes a different approach, looking not at averages but at how differences in values are distributed throughout the society. This shows a more complex picture, and one that is changing with each new generation.     

公众舆论与外交政策——现实主义与自由主义的比较

本文以现实主义和自由主义国际关系理论流派的发展、演变为视角,着力探讨了公众舆论与外交政策的互动机制以及其作为影响国家间关系的重要变量所具有的理论内涵;并对公众舆论是否具有理性,是否具有真实性、价值性等相关问题进行了比较分析与说明。     

Public Opinion Surveys and the Formation of Privacy Policy

The laws that condition the boundaries that separate the public from the private spheres shape our expectations of privacy. Public opinion helps to shape the development and implementation of those laws. Commercial firms in the information-intensive industries have been the primary sponsors of public opinion surveys introduced into testimony as assessments of the public's will. Representatives of business and consumer organizations have relied upon the same industry-sponsored surveys to frame their arguments in support of or in opposition to specific privacy policies. In the past 25 years, references to public opinion have been used to frame the public as concerned, differentiated and, most recently, as willing to negotiate their privacy demands.     

Lies,Damned Lies,and Campaign Promises? Environmental Legislation in the 105th Congress*

Objective. The extent to which candidates for elected office keep their campaign promises holds great interest for citizens and has important consequences for the quality of democracy. However, we know very little about whether candidates actually keep these promises. This article examines the relationship between campaign promises and the subsequent legislative behavior of members of Congress in the area of environmental protection. Methods. Responses to the 1996 National Political Awareness Test (NPAT) are matched with roll‐call data on environmental issues from the 105th Congress. A series of bivariate probit models with selection are then used to assess the extent to which roll‐call votes are consistent with candidate policy statements in the NPAT. Results. We find that members of Congress vote consistent with their campaign promises 73 percent of the time, and that NPAT responses help to predict roll‐call votes even when controlling for party, race, gender, campaign contributions, and previous environmental voting record. We also find that the propensity to keep campaign promises varies systematically across types of legislators. Conclusions. Contrary to public perceptions, candidates for Congress routinely act to keep their campaign promises once elected, at least in the area of environmental protection policy.     

On the Contingent Valuation of Safety and the Safety of Contingent Valuation: Part 2 - The CV/SG "Chained" Approach

This article reports the results of a study aimed at estimating a willingness-to-pay based value of statistical life for road risks using a multi-stage approach which involves "chaining together" responses to contingent valuation and standard gamble questions.The rationale for employing a multi-stage approach is to break the wealth/risk of death trade-off down into a number of conceptually manageable steps, thereby trying to attenuate the various biases that appear to be pervasive in responses to more direct contingent valuation questions in the health and safety field.     

History repeating: child protection responses to domestic violence

Statutory child protection has a long and contested history in domestic violence intervention where children are involved. The inadequacy of the response has been raised by researchers, women and their advocates for more than 20 years. In fact, Linda Gordon, in her classic analysis of the files of charitable agencies from 1880 to 1960, showed that violent men were ignored, women whose own lives were in danger were judged as inadequate when they failed to protect their children and ‘child rescue’ was frequently seen as the solution to protecting vulnerable children. The same issues continue to be raised today. The repetitive pattern points to the structured nature of the problem which goes beyond the intentions and practice of individual workers. A policy response and a cultural change is needed, which tackles not only the ‘age old’ but also some of the newer permutations of intervention in this area. This paper will explore aspects of this structured pattern and then draw from international research and projects which are grappling with positive changes to child protection intervention in this area.     

Attitudinal Polarization and Trimodal Distributions: Measurement Problems and Theoretical Implications

Objective . We present trimodality as a distributional pattern that is relevant to conceptual issues of attitudinal polarization but fits nowhere along the modality-bimodality continuum. Methods . We use simulated univariate distributions and distributions taken from the 1994 General Social Survey to investigate how commonly used measures track (or fail to track) noteworthy shifts in the distributions. Results . The kurtosis and variance are largely insensitive to important distributional differences, most importantly that between bimodality and trimodality. Conclusions . We argue that the lack of attention to trimodality and the insensitivity of commonly used measures of polarization (kurtosis in particular) to that distributional pattern create a blind spot in our thinking about polarization and can lead to basic misinterpretations of extant patterns in public opinion data.