The importance of survey content: Testing for the context dependency of the New Ecological Paradigm Scale

Using a regression-based analysis of a survey of U.S. households, we demonstrate that both environmental concern, as measured by the New Ecological Paradigm (NEP) Scale, and facets of environmental concern, as measured by three NEP factors, are influenced by survey context. Survey respondents were presented with detailed information about two to four threatened and endangered marine species in the United States, including the Endangered Species Act listing status of the species and threats to the survival of the species. All else being equal, measures of environmental concern are influenced by both which species were included in the survey and by the concern expressed about these species. As such, measures of environmental concern are found to be context dependent since they are correlated with the species included in each survey. We also demonstrate that NEP-based measures of environmental concern are affected by socio-demographic variables, opinions about government spending, and environmental knowledge. Given the wide, multi-disciplinary use of the NEP Scale, it is important for researchers to recognize that NEP-based measures of environmental concern may be sensitive to information included in surveys.     

How to study political activists: A petition survey approach

A major challenge for social movement and political campaign studies is generating large, representative samples of political activists. This paper outlines a strategy of surveying those who participate in a common, baseline form of political action: signing petitions. Similar to protest surveys, signing a petition constitutes a more baseline low cost/low risk form of political activism. In 26 states in the U.S. petition lists are public record and, with modest effort, can be used to study a wide variety of issues, groups and campaigns. We outline the steps and costs involved in such a petition survey and how to improve response rate. To assess response bias, we compare demographic and political affiliation measures acquired from a marketing analytics company (Experian) for respondents and non-respondents to our survey of petition signers for two state-level initiative elections, finding only modest and interpretable response bias. The methods presented here have broader implications for survey research in general.     

Using small data to interpret big data: 311 reports as individual contributions to informal social control in urban neighborhoods

Informal social control is considered a vital component of the well-being of urban communities. Though some argue that the actions that constitute this social process are often said to reflect territoriality, little else is known about how individuals contribute to it. The current study leverages a database of over 600,000 requests for government services received by the city of Boston, MA's 311 system as a way to answer such questions, focusing particularly on reports of issues in the public space arising from incivilities. In order to establish construct validity for the “big data” of the 311 system, they are combined with the “small data” of a survey of 311 users, permitting the simultaneous analysis of objective reporting behaviors with self-report attitudes. The analysis occurs in two parts. First, reporting of incivilities is distinguished behaviorally from reporting public issues arising from natural deterioration, and people are found to specialize in one or the other. Second, the survey is used to test whether the reports are a reflection of territoriality. Reports of incivilities were unique in their association with a desire to enforce local social norms. They were also associated with a second territorial motivation to benefit the community. Implications for future research are discussed.     

Are environmental attitudes influenced by survey context? An investigation of the context dependency of the New Ecological Paradigm (NEP) Scale

General environmental attitudes are often measured with questions added to surveys about specific environmental or non-environmental issues. Using results from a large-scale national survey on the protection of threatened and endangered marine species, we examine whether the context of the survey in which New Ecological Paradigm (NEP) Scale items are asked influence measured environmental concern. In this application the role that specific threatened or endangered species play in affecting responses to NEP Scale items is explored using a combination of non-parametric and parametric approaches. The results in this case suggest that context does influence stated general environmental attitudes, though the effects of context differ across NEP items.     

Three experimental approaches to measure the social context dependence of prejudice communication and discriminatory behavior

Empirical research on discrimination is faced with crucial problems stemming from the specific character of its object of study. In democratic societies the communication of prejudices and other forms of discriminatory behavior is considered socially undesirable and depends on situational factors such as whether a situation is considered private or whether a discriminatory consensus can be assumed. Regular surveys thus can only offer a blurred picture of the phenomenon. But also survey experiments intended to decrease the social desirability bias (SDB) so far failed in systematically implementing situational variables. This paper introduces three experimental approaches to improve the study of discrimination and other topics of social (un-)desirability. First, we argue in favor of cognitive context framing in surveys in order to operationalize the salience of situational norms. Second, factorial surveys offer a way to take situational contexts and substitute behavior into account. And third, choice experiments – a rather new method in sociology – offer a more valid method of measuring behavioral characteristics compared to simple items in surveys. All three approaches – which may be combined – are easy to implement in large-scale surveys. Results of empirical studies demonstrate the fruitfulness of each of these approaches.     

议程设置视域下的突发事件舆论引导

在新世纪新阶段的突发事件的舆论引导中,“非典”事件可谓是一个新起点。从云南陆良事件可以看到舆论引导的与时俱进,而湖北石首案则提供了深刻教训。关于社会舆情,务必高度关注互联网。政府面对网络舆情时的若干特质,其与媒介的关系理应是相融共生的。政府强化执政能力的要求之一,是运用新闻报道进行政府日常议程设置,以保障人民的知情权、参与权、表达权、监督权。     

论网络时代的政府公共信息管理与服务

公共信息资源是人们进行公共生活、提高公共生活质量的战略性资源。信息社会的来临,为政府的公共管理提供了新的发展机遇,也推进了其发展。公共信息是公共物品,公共信息管理是政府公共管理的基础工作和重要内容。公共信息管理要求政府充分利用信息技术的便利,在制度和观念等方面也要改进。     

Understanding the resilience of mail-back survey methods: An analysis of 20 years of change in response rates to national park surveys

Coverage and response rate challenges facing telephone and internet surveys have encouraged scientists to reconsider mail data collection methods. Although response rates to telephone surveys have declined sharply in the last 20 years, it is unclear how response rates to mail have fared during this time. This study analyzes 179 mail-back surveys of visitors to US National Parks from 1988 to 2007, which used virtually the same administration procedures throughout the period. Results show that response rates, based on only those who initially agreed to return a questionnaire, have remained at a high level with a 76% average while the number of questions and pages steadily increased. Despite this rise in response burden, rates have declined only moderately from about 80% in the late 1980s to about 70% more recently. The roles of additional contacts and survey salience in maintaining high response rates are examined. Results suggest that mail-back surveys for obtaining information from quasi-general public populations remain an effective data collection procedure.     

New options for national population surveys: The implications of internet and smartphone coverage

Challenges to survey data collection have increased the costs of social research via face-to-face surveys so much that it may become extremely difficult for social scientists to continue using these methods. A key drawback to less expensive Internet-based alternatives is the threat of biased results from coverage errors in survey data. The rise of Internet-enabled smartphones presents an opportunity to re-examine the issue of Internet coverage for surveys and its implications for coverage bias. Two questions (on Internet access and smartphone ownership) were added to the National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG), a U.S. national probability survey of women and men age 15–44, using a continuous sample design. We examine 16 quarters (4 years) of data, from September 2012 to August 2016.Overall, we estimate that 82.9% of the target NSFG population has Internet access, and 81.6% has a smartphone. Combined, this means that about 90.7% of U.S. residents age 15–44 have Internet access, via either traditional devices or a smartphone. We find some evidence of compensatory coverage when looking at key race/ethnicity and age subgroups. For instance, while Black teens (15–18) have the lowest estimated rate of Internet access (81.9%) and the lowest rate of smartphone usage (72.6%), an estimated 88.0% of this subgroup has some form of Internet access.We also examine the socio-demographic correlates of Internet and smartphone coverage, separately and combined, as indicators of technology access in this population. In addition, we look at the effect of differential coverage on key estimates produced by the NSFG, related to fertility, family formation, and sexual activity. While this does not address nonresponse or measurement biases that may differ for alternative modes, our paper has implications for possible coverage biases that may arise when switching to a Web-based mode of data collection, either for follow-up surveys or to replace the main face-to-face data collection.     

Selective responsiveness: Online public demands and government responsiveness in authoritarian China

The widespread use of information and communication technology (ICT) has reshaped the public sphere in the digital era, making online forums a new channel for political participation. Using big data analytics of full records of citizen-government interactions from 2008 to early 2014 on a nationwide political forum, we find that authoritarian China is considerably responsive to citizens' demands with a rapid growth of response rate; however, government responsiveness is highly selective, conditioning on actors' social identities and the policy domains of their online demands. Results from logistic and duration models suggest that requests which made by local citizens, expressed collectively, focused on the single task issue, and are closely related to economic growth are more likely to be responded to. These strategies adopted by Chinese provincial leaders reveal the scope and selectivity of authoritarian responsiveness.     

The self-assessed literacy index: Reliability and validity

Literacy is associated with many outcomes of research interest as well as with respondents’ ability to even participate in surveys, yet very few surveys attempt to measure it because doing so is often complex, requiring extensive tests. The central goal of this paper is to develop a parsimonious measure of respondents’ reading ability that does not require a complex literacy test. We use data from the 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy to identify correlates of reading ability to form a literacy index. These correlates include self-assessments of one’s ability to understand, read and write English, and literacy practices at home. Our literacy index reliably discerns literacy test scores above educational attainment, and the index shows high internal consistency (coefficient alpha = 0.78) and validity. The paper concludes with implications of these findings for survey research practitioners and suggestions for future research.     

Social isolation,survey nonresponse,and nonresponse bias: An empirical evaluation using social network data within an organization

Survey researchers have long hypothesized that social isolation negatively affects the probability of survey participation and biases survey estimates. Previous research, however, has relied on proxy measures of isolation, such as being a marginalized group member within a population. We re-examine the relationship between social isolation and survey participation using direct measures of social isolation derived from social network data; specifically, instrumental research and expressive friendship connections among faculty within academic departments. Using a reconceptualization of social isolation, we find that social network isolation is negatively associated with unit response. Among women (a numerical minority group within the organization), we further find that social group isolation (i.e., lacking instrumental network connections to men, the majority group in the organization) is negatively associated with survey participation. Finally, we show that some survey estimates are systematically biased due to nonparticipation from socially isolated people.     

乡村公共空间与乡村文化建设——以河北唐山乡村公共空间为例

乡村聚落中的公共空间是农民参与乡村文化建设的重要场所。在中国社会经济转型时期,随着乡村社会生活的深刻变化,乡村公共空间也在发生变化。本文以河北唐山为调查区域,抽样调查分析了当地乡村生活与公共空间的分布特点。即虽然乡村生活发生了变化,但是大多数乡村公共空间还是分布在必需性活动场所及其附近,并以两三种活动复合在同一地点为主,良好的环境和设施是附加性的分布影响因素。同时,本文归纳了公共空间活动的人员结构和组织特征,进而分析了政府、村委会、核心人物在乡村公共空间中作用。     

Are we keeping the people who used to stay? Changes in correlates of panel survey attrition over time

As survey response rates decline, correlates of survey participation may also be changing. Panel studies provide an opportunity to study a rich set of correlates of panel attrition over time. We look at changes in attrition rates in the American National Election Studies from 1964 to 2004, a repeated panel survey with a two-wave pre-post election design implemented over multiple decades. We examine changes in attrition rates by three groups of variables: sociodemographic and ecological characteristics of the respondent and household, party affiliation and political and social attitudes recorded at the first interview, and paradata about the first wave interview. We find relatively little overall change in the pre-post election panel attrition rates, but important changes in demographic correlates of panel attrition over time. We also examine contact and cooperation rates from 1988 to 2004.     

浙江省公共租赁住房问题的调查与思考

随着公共租赁住房建设的全面开展,与之配套的管理制度也亟需完善.我们选取浙江省房价收入比的一类地区与二类地区中的两个典型城市进行问卷调查,了解公众对浙江省公共租赁住房政策的了解情况与需求情况,分析公众对浙江省公共租赁住房政策的期望,并基于此提出浙江省制定公共租赁住房政策的建议.     

Underestimating busyness: Indications of nonresponse bias due to work-family conflict and time pressure

International research shows that both work-family conflict and time pressure are increasing in Western societies. With these increased pressures, precisely those people who are combining work and family obligations may be missing from survey estimates. This study investigates whether the measurement of work-family conflict (WFC) and time pressure is influenced by nonresponse bias. Using the Flemish “Work, Family and Time use in Flanders”-survey and the Basic Question survey for nonrespondents of this survey, we investigate whether nonrespondents score higher on subjective and objective indicators of WFC and time pressure than respondents. Results show that nonrespondents are indeed those sample units who experience significantly more WFC and time pressure, demonstrating that WFC and time pressure related nonresponse biases exist. Implications and suggestions to reduce bias in data collections are discussed.     

行政控制、公共服务与城市基层社区组织功能——对云南省社区的剖析

借助对云南省城市社区调研的资料和数据,通过解剖社区各类工作,昭显社区组织的两大功能:行政控制和社区居民服务需求的满足,后者包括政府提供的针对所有社区的公共服务,以及只针对本社区居民的由社区自身组织提供的公共服务。通过分析,文章提出下列四个命题:(1)行政控制功能和公共服务功能是当前城市基层社区组织的两类主要功能;(2)存在两个层次主体提供公共服务:一是由政府提供,基层社区组织具体执行的公共服务,二是基层社区组织提供的公共服务;(3)政府投入水平决定行政控制功能和政府公共服务提供功能的发挥;(4)社区经济、政府投入决定社区公共服务提供功能的发挥。     

Threat,prejudice and the impact of the riots in England

This paper examines how a major outbreak of rioting in England in 2011 impacted on prejudice toward three minority groups in Britain: Muslims, Black British and East Europeans. We test whether the riots mobilized individuals by increasing feelings of realistic and symbolic threat and ultimately prejudice, or whether the riots galvanized those already concerned about minorities, thus strengthening the relationship between threat and prejudice. We conducted three national surveys – before, after and one year on from the riots – and show that after the riots individuals were more likely to perceive threats to society’s security and culture, and by extension express increased prejudice toward Black British and East European minorities. We find little evidence of a galvanizing impact. One year later, threat and prejudice had returned to pre-riots levels; however, results from a survey experiment show that priming memories of the riots can raise levels of prejudice.     

Context effects and the temporal stability of stated preferences

In stated preference studies it is assumed that individuals' answers reflect true preferences and are stable over time. We test these two assumptions of validity and reliability using as an example a choice experiment study on ethical consumption that measures preferences for a Peace Product jointly produced by Israeli and Palestinian producers as well as for organic products. In a web survey conducted in Germany, we investigate the validity assumption by manipulating the question context and presenting one group of respondents with questions on anti-Semitic and anti-Arabic attitudes before the choice tasks, and presenting another group with these questions after the choice tasks. In order to test the assumption of temporal stability, the same experimental set-up was repeated in a second survey based on a new sample ten months after the first. However, prior to the second survey an external event, a major violent dispute between Israelis and the Palestinians occurred. Overall, we find evidence for a context effect but not for temporal instability. In both surveys, the placement of the attitudinal questions before the choice tasks has a positive effect on the valuation of products from Israel, Palestinian products and the Peace Product (i.e. a directional context effect). The respondents seem to act according to an anti-discrimination norm. In line with this reasoning, we find an attention shift caused by the attitudinal questions. Organic products are valued much less positively if discriminatory attitudes are surveyed before the choice tasks. Furthermore, despite the violent dispute, stated preferences are very stable over time. This indicates high reliability of stated preference studies and encourages the use of study results by private and public decision makers.     

Assessing the effect of social desirability on nativism attitude responses

Attempts to measure and analyze public opinion attitudes toward racial/ethnic minorities often confront the “social desirability” problem: those who have prejudiced attitudes are rarely willing to admit them to surveyors. Instead, they may be more likely to give a socially acceptable answer rather an accurate reflection of their views. Previous research has clearly established that this effect presents a challenge for accurately measuring self-reported racial and policy attitudes that primarily affect African–Americans. It is less clear, however, how it might affect self-reported responses to attitudes dealing with Latinos and immigration. This study thus seeks to analyze the extent to which social desirability may affect survey measures of perceived levels of cultural threat (nativism). Results from two separate analyses using the Crowne–Marlowe “social desirability scale” and a survey “list experiment” demonstrate that social desirability is indeed a concern for accurately measuring nativism in the American public, but that it exerts an opposite effect from what has previously been observed: nativist attitudes tend to be over-reported in opinion surveys.