scholarly journals Conducting quantitative studies with the participation of political elites: best practices for designing the study and soliciting the participation of political elites

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Vis ◽  
Sjoerd Stolwijk
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Best Practices ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Response Rate ◽  
Response Rates ◽  
Political Elite ◽  
Political Elites ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
Quantitative Studies

Abstract Conducting quantitative research (e.g., surveys, a large number of interviews, experiments) with the participation of political elites is typically challenging. Given that a population of political elites is typically small by definition, a particular challenge is obtaining a sufficiently high number of observations and, thus, a certain response rate. This paper focuses on two questions related to this challenge: (1) What are best practices for designing the study? And (2) what are best practices for soliciting the participation of political elites? To arrive at these best practices, we (a) examine which factors explain the variation in response rates across surveys within and between large-scale, multi-wave survey projects by statistically analyzing a newly compiled dataset of 342 political elite surveys from eight projects, spanning 30 years and 58 countries, (b) integrate the typically scattered findings from the existing literature and (c) discuss results from an original expert survey among researchers with experience with such research (n = 23). By compiling a comprehensive list of best practices, systematically testing some widely held believes about response rates and by providing benchmarks for response rates depending on country, survey mode and elite type, we aim to facilitate future studies where participation of political elites is required. This will contribute to our knowledge and understanding of political elites’ opinions, information processing and decision making and thereby of the functioning of representative democracies.

Non-Probabilistic Sampling in Quantitative Clinical Research

2022 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 0-0
Keyword(s):  
Best Practices ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Sampling Method ◽  
Sampling Methods ◽  
Early Career ◽  
Probability Sampling ◽  
Probabilistic Sampling ◽  
Quantitative Studies ◽  
Health Studies ◽  
Probabilistic Sample

Quantitative researchers need a probabilistic sample to generalise their findings, but research constraints often compel them to use non-probabilistic samples. The use of non-probability sampling methods in quantitative studies has therefore become a norm. Interestingly, even studies published in top-quality journals compromise best practices that the use of non-probabilistic samples requires. Based on a thorough review of relevant studies, we developed a typology of non-probability sampling methods used in quantitative health studies. An attempt was made to discuss the limit of inference under each type of non-probability sampling method. Non-probability sampling in quantitative research was also delineated as a way to maximise response rate. This study is expected to guide students and early career epidemiologists to understand how to apply non-probabilistic sampling methods in quantitative approaches and plausibly document or report their chosen methods.

scholarly journals Retaining Adolescent and Young Adult Participants in Research During a Pandemic: Best Practices From Two Large-Scale Developmental Neuroimaging Studies (NCANDA and ABCD)

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kate B. Nooner ◽  
Tammy Chung ◽  
Sarah W. Feldstein Ewing ◽  
Ty Brumback ◽  
Zjanya Arwood ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Best Practices ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Adolescent And Young Adult ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Research Staff ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
Global Pandemic ◽  
Adult Participants ◽  
Adaptive Processes ◽  
Novel Coronavirus

The novel coronavirus pandemic that emerged in late 2019 (COVID-19) has created challenges not previously experienced in human research. This paper discusses two large-scale NIH-funded multi-site longitudinal studies of adolescents and young adults – the National Consortium on Alcohol and Neurodevelopment in Adolescence (NCANDA) and the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study – and valuable approaches to learn about adaptive processes for conducting developmentally sensitive research with neuroimaging and neurocognitive testing across consortia during a global pandemic. We focus on challenges experienced during the pandemic and modifications that may guide other projects, such as implementing adapted protocols that protect the safety of participants and research staff, and addressing assessment challenges through the use of strategies such as remote and mobile assessments. Given the pandemic’s disproportionate impacts on participants typically underrepresented in research, we describe efforts to retain these individuals. The pandemic provides an opportunity to develop adaptive processes that can facilitate future studies’ ability to mobilize effectively and rapidly.

scholarly journals Organisational Ethics and HR Decision Making: Impact of „Best Practices‟ of Ethics Education and Training

2015 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 19-35
Author(s):  
Rajashree S Kini
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Best Practices ◽  
Ethical Dilemma ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Ethics Education ◽  
Education And Training ◽  
Individual Characteristics ◽  
Organisational Ethics ◽  
Effective Decision Making ◽  
And Training

The study is based on the responses of HR professionals of 313 large scale industries of Karnataka. This paper is the part of the research done by the researcher. HR decision-making is not easy in organisations when the matter is based on ethical dilemma. Different variables like organisational and individual characteristics, culture and climate, ethics education and training etc. have to be considered for effective decision-making. This paper highlights the importance of „best practices‟ of ethics education and training in the organisations for the better decision-making in the situations of ethical dilemma.

LGBTQ in the Courtroom

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jordan Blair Woods
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Best Practices ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Juror Decision Making ◽  
Criminal Cases ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
Sexuality And Gender ◽  
And Gender

This chapter reviews a limited but emerging body of research on biases that arise and affect lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) jurors as well as juror decision-making when LGBTQ individuals are involved in criminal cases. The chapter also discusses recent research and legal developments surrounding jury selection and LGBTQ identity and describes debates over best practices to identify and combat anti-LGBTQ juror biases. Finally, the chapter reviews gay and trans “panic” defenses in cases involving the murders of LGBTQ individuals and examines other challenges that LGBTQ defendants and victims face in different criminal contexts. Although there is a need for future studies, the available research illustrates how challenges linked to sexuality and gender identity in the criminal jury system can compromise legitimacy and fairness in the criminal justice system more broadly.

scholarly journals Takedown in Two Worlds: An Empirical Analysis

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Urban ◽  
Joe Karaganis ◽  
Brianna L. Schofield
Keyword(s):  
Best Practices ◽  
Small Businesses ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Web Search ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Online Service ◽  
Legal Reforms ◽  
Quantitative Studies ◽  
Primary Means ◽  
Online Service Providers

In its nearly two decades of existence, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act’s “notice and takedown” process has become both a source of controversy and a primary means of addressing online copyright disputes. Yet there is little empirical research into the use of notice and takedown or its effectiveness. Because it depends on the private communications and actions of copyright holders, online service providers, and targets, notice and takedown operates largely within a difficult-to-study “black box.” This article contributes to the literature with an empirical look at two sets of takedown notices. It digests findings from two quantitative studies of takedown notices in the Lumen database, reported fully in the three-study report, Notice and Takedown in Everyday Practice (available at https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2755628), and peer-reviewed here. The first study, of notices sent to Google Web Search, shows a heavy reliance by large rightsholders on automated infringement detection and notification, and tends to support their assertions that they focus their enforcement resources on large-scale infringement. At the same time, 31% of these notices raised questions related to their accuracy and statutory compliance. The second study provides a snapshot of takedown as used by one set of smaller notice senders — individuals and small businesses sending to Google Image Search. In this study, notices were more likely to target social media sites, blogs, and personal websites, and 70% of the notices raised questions. While both studies revealed surprisingly high percentages of notices of questionable validity, the questions raised tended to differ. The automated notices in the first study predominantly exhibited issues identifying the works in question, while the notices sent by smaller rightsholders in the second study predominantly exhibited issues with the underlying claim. Accordingly, while notice sending appears to need improvement, there is no “one-size-fits-all” approach. Both “worlds” of notice sending need to be accommodated. We therefore suggest a set of voluntary best practices, educational efforts, and modest legal reforms directed to the different issues we observed.

scholarly journals Motivation and response rates in bronchoscopy studies

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Einar M.H. Martinsen ◽  
Tomas M.L. Eagan ◽  
Elise O. Leiten ◽  
Eli Nordeide ◽  
Per S. Bakke ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Response Rate ◽  
Response Rates ◽  
Safe Procedure ◽  
Single Centre ◽  
Personal Benefit ◽  
Lung Microbiome ◽  
Main Motive ◽  
Open Question ◽  
Participation In Research

Background: Bronchoscopy is frequently used to sample the lower airways in lung microbiome studies. Despite being a safe procedure, it is associated with discomfort that may result in reservations regarding participation in research bronchoscopy studies. Information on participation in research bronchoscopy studies is limited. We report response rates, reasons for non-response, motivation for participation, and predictors of participation in a large-scale single-centre bronchoscopy study (“MicroCOPD”). Methods: Two hundred forty-nine participants underwent at least one bronchoscopy in addition to being examined by a physician, having lung function tested, and being offered a CT scan of the heart and lungs (subjects > 40 years). Each participant was asked an open question regarding motivation. Non-response reasons were gathered, and response rates were calculated. Results: The study had a response rate just above 50%, and men had a significantly higher response rate than women (56.5% vs. 44.8%, p = 0.01). Procedural fear was the most common non-response reason. Most participants participated due to perceived personal benefit, but a large proportion did also participate to help others and contribute to science. Men were less likely to give exclusive altruistic motives, whereas subjects with asthma were more likely to report exclusive personal benefit as main motive. Conclusion: Response rates of about 50% in bronchoscopy studies make large bronchoscopy studies feasible, but the fact that participants are motivated by their own health status places a large responsibility on the investigators regarding the accuracy of the provided study information.

An Empirical Study on the Impact of Individual Local Political Elites and Decision-Making Collective on Educational Fiscal Expenditure in China

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 961-985
Author(s):  
Ru Cai ◽  
Xinping Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Individual Characteristics ◽  
Political Elite ◽  
Political Elites ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Change Of Variables ◽  
Democratic Centralism ◽  
Fiscal Expenditure ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Local Party

Under the current decentralization system in China, individual characteristics of the local political elites and collective characteristics of the standing committees of the local party have an impact on local education fiscal policy. Yet published research on the similarities and differences between the collective influence of the Standing committee and the individual influence of the political elite are lacking. To address this gap in the literature, our study discussed the impact of local political elites represented by the mayor and the secretary and the collective of standing committees of the local party on education fiscal expenditure. We construct multiple regression models and analyze the R2 Change of variables is based on the cross-sectional data from 2015 of 283 prefecture-level administrative units in China. We find that both political elites and the standing committees have significant impacts on fiscal expenditure in education, and that the influence of the latter is greater than that of the former. The effect of individual characteristics and collective characteristics on education fiscal expenditure is not completely consistent across prefectures. China's prefectural governments implement China's unique principle of democratic centralism when they make decisions on local spending for education and the collective decision-making under the leadership of the committee plays an important role in education fiscal expenditure. Based on this, we put forward policy suggestions to further develop the principle of democratic centralism and to optimize optimizing the local government education supply and evaluation mechanism.

scholarly journals Recruiting general practitioners as participants for qualitative and experimental primary care studies in Australia

2015 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 354 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shannon McKinn ◽  
Carissa Bonner ◽  
Jesse Jansen ◽  
Kirsten McCaffery
Keyword(s):  
Primary Care ◽  
General Practitioners ◽  
Response Rate ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Response Rates ◽  
Qualitative Interview ◽  
Primary Care Research ◽  
Quantitative Studies ◽  
Mailing Lists ◽  
Interview Studies

Recruiting general practitioners (GPs) for participation in primary care research is vitally important, but it can be very difficult for researchers to engage time-poor GPs. This paper describes six different strategies used by a research team recruiting Australian GPs for three qualitative interview studies and one experimental study, and reports the response rates and costs incurred. Strategies included: (1) mailed invitations via Divisions of General Practice; (2) electronic newsletters; (3) combining mailed invitations and newsletter; (4) in-person recruitment at GP conferences; (5) conference satchel inserts; and (6) combining in-person recruitment and satchel inserts. Response rates ranged from 0 (newsletter) to 30% (in-person recruitment). Recruitment costs per participant ranged from A$83 (in-person recruitment) to A$232 (satchel inserts). Mailed invitations can be viable for qualitative studies, especially when free/low-cost mailing lists are used, if the response rate is less important. In-person recruitment at GP conferences can be effective for short quantitative studies, where a higher response rate is important. Newsletters and conference satchel inserts were expensive and ineffective.

Why Has There Been No People’s Power Rebellion in North Korea?

2018 ◽  
pp. 1-34
Author(s):  
Andrew Jackson
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
North Korea ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Political Elite ◽  
Information Control ◽  
Al Jazeera ◽  
The North ◽  
New Information ◽  
Effective System ◽  
The Right

One scenario put forward by researchers, political commentators and journalists for the collapse of North Korea has been a People’s Power (or popular) rebellion. This paper analyses why no popular rebellion has occurred in the DPRK under Kim Jong Un. It challenges the assumption that popular rebellion would happen because of widespread anger caused by a greater awareness of superior economic conditions outside the DPRK. Using Jack Goldstone’s theoretical expla-nations for the outbreak of popular rebellion, and comparisons with the 1989 Romanian and 2010–11 Tunisian transitions, this paper argues that marketi-zation has led to a loosening of state ideological control and to an influx of infor-mation about conditions in the outside world. However, unlike the Tunisian transitions—in which a new information context shaped by social media, the Al-Jazeera network and an experience of protest helped create a sense of pan-Arab solidarity amongst Tunisians resisting their government—there has been no similar ideology unifying North Koreans against their regime. There is evidence of discontent in market unrest in the DPRK, although protests between 2011 and the present have mostly been in defense of the right of people to support themselves through private trade. North Koreans believe this right has been guaranteed, or at least tacitly condoned, by the Kim Jong Un government. There has not been any large-scale explosion of popular anger because the state has not attempted to crush market activities outright under Kim Jong Un. There are other reasons why no popular rebellion has occurred in the North. Unlike Tunisia, the DPRK lacks a dissident political elite capable of leading an opposition movement, and unlike Romania, the DPRK authorities have shown some flexibility in their anti-dissent strategies, taking a more tolerant approach to protests against economic issues. Reduced levels of violence during periods of unrest and an effective system of information control may have helped restrict the expansion of unrest beyond rural areas.

A Unifying Principle for a Researcher Learning Safety: Reduce Uncertainty!

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Camilla Kao ◽  
Russell Furr
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Best Practices ◽  
Mission Statement ◽  
Safety Information ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Mission Statements ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Physical And Chemical

Conveying safety information to researchers is challenging. A list of rules and best practices often is not remembered thoroughly even by individuals who want to remember everything. Researchers in science thinking according to principles: mathematical, physical, and chemical laws; biological paradigms. They use frameworks and logic, rather than memorization, to achieve the bulk of their work. Can safety be taught to researchers in a manner that matches with how they are trained to think? Is there a principle more defined than "Think safety!" that can help researchers make good decisions in situations that are complex, new, and demanding?<div><br></div><div>Effective trainings in other professions can arise from the use of a mission statement that participants internalize as a mental framework or model for future decision-making. We propose that mission statements incorporating the concept of <b>reducing uncertainty</b> could provide such a framework for learning safety. This essay briefly explains the definition of <b>uncertainty</b> in the context of health and safety, discusses the need for an individual to <b>personalize</b> a mission statement in order to internalize it, and connects the idea of <b>greater control</b> over a situation with less uncertainty with respect to safety. The principle of reducing uncertainty might also help <b>non-researchers</b> think about safety. People from all walks of life should be able to understand that more control over their situations provides more protection for them, their colleagues, and the environment.</div>

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