scholarly journals The Generalizability of Survey Experiments

2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 109-138 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin J. Mullinix ◽  
Thomas J. Leeper ◽  
James N. Druckman ◽  
Jeremy Freese
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Treatment Effects ◽  
Causal Power ◽  
Experimental Treatment ◽  
Population Based ◽  
The Social ◽  
Survey Experiments ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Nationally Representative ◽  
Amazon's Mechanical Turk

AbstractSurvey experiments have become a central methodology across the social sciences. Researchers can combine experiments’ causal power with the generalizability of population-based samples. Yet, due to the expense of population-based samples, much research relies on convenience samples (e.g. students, online opt-in samples). The emergence of affordable, but non-representative online samples has reinvigorated debates about the external validity of experiments. We conduct two studies of how experimental treatment effects obtained from convenience samples compare to effects produced by population samples. In Study 1, we compare effect estimates from four different types of convenience samples and a population-based sample. In Study 2, we analyze treatment effects obtained from 20 experiments implemented on a population-based sample and Amazon's Mechanical Turk (MTurk). The results reveal considerable similarity between many treatment effects obtained from convenience and nationally representative population-based samples. While the results thus bolster confidence in the utility of convenience samples, we conclude with guidance for the use of a multitude of samples for advancing scientific knowledge.

What Can We Learn From Factorial Surveys About Human Behavior?

Methodology ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Knut Petzold ◽  
Tobias Wolbring
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Behavioral Intentions ◽  
Actual Behavior ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Factorial Survey ◽  
Survey Experiment ◽  
Intended Behavior ◽  
The Social ◽  
Survey Experiments ◽  
High Level

Abstract. Factorial survey experiments are increasingly used in the social sciences to investigate behavioral intentions. The measurement of self-reported behavioral intentions with factorial survey experiments frequently assumes that the determinants of intended behavior affect actual behavior in a similar way. We critically investigate this fundamental assumption using the misdirected email technique. Student participants of a survey were randomly assigned to a field experiment or a survey experiment. The email informs the recipient about the reception of a scholarship with varying stakes (full-time vs. book) and recipient’s names (German vs. Arabic). In the survey experiment, respondents saw an image of the same email. This validation design ensured a high level of correspondence between units, settings, and treatments across both studies. Results reveal that while the frequencies of self-reported intentions and actual behavior deviate, treatments show similar relative effects. Hence, although further research on this topic is needed, this study suggests that determinants of behavior might be inferred from behavioral intentions measured with survey experiments.

scholarly journals Prevalence and Social Inequality in Experiences of Domestic Abuse Among Mothers of Young Children: A Study Using National Survey Data from Scotland

2021 ◽  
pp. 088626052098039
Author(s):  
Valeria Skafida ◽  
Fiona Morrison ◽  
John Devaney
Keyword(s):  
Physical Abuse ◽  
Social Stratification ◽  
Domestic Abuse ◽  
Income Quintile ◽  
Coercive Control ◽  
Policy Interventions ◽  
The Social ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Study Child ◽  
Nationally Representative

Domestic abuse is a pernicious societal issue that has both short- and long-term consequences for those who are victimized. Research points to motherhood being linked to women’s victimization, with pregnancy being a particular point of risk. Across UK jurisdictions, new legislation aims to extend the criminalization of domestic abuse to include coercive control. Less clear is the relationship between mothers’ victimization of different “types” of abuse and other factors such as age, socioeconomic status, and level of education. The article makes an original contribution to knowledge by addressing these limitations of the existing literature. Using nationally representative data from a Scottish longitudinal survey ( N = 3,633) into children’s development this article investigates the social stratification of mothers’ exposure to different types of abuse, including coercive control, physical abuse, and threats. Overall, 14% of mothers report experiencing any type of domestic abuse since the birth of the study child (age 6), of which 7% experienced physical abuse. Compared to mothers in the highest income households, mothers in the lowest income quintile were far more likely to experience any form of abuse (Logistic Regression, OR = 3.55), more likely to have experienced more types of abuse and to have experienced these more often ( OR = 5.54). Age had a protective effect, with mothers aged 20 or younger at most risk of abuse ( OR = 2.60 compared to mothers aged 40+). Interaction effects between age and income suggested that an intersectional lens may help explain the cumulative layers of difficulty which young mothers on low incomes may find themselves in when it comes to abusive partners. The pattern of social stratification remained the same when comparing different types of abuse. Mothers of boys were more likely to experience abuse, and to experience more types of abuse, more often. We reflect on how these findings could inform existing policy interventions.

scholarly journals Intersektionalitet som sociologisk begreb

2011 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 71-88 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sune Qvotrup Jensen ◽  
Ann-Dorte Christensen
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Everyday Life ◽  
Social Inequality ◽  
Key Words ◽  
Social Structures ◽  
Black American ◽  
Social Differentiation ◽  
Social Forms ◽  
The Social ◽  
Different Types

Intersektionalitetsbegrebet indebærer, at sociale differentieringsformer som køn, klasse, etnicitet og ”race” er gensidigt konstituerende både på et identitetsmæssigt og strukturelt niveau. Begrebet har haft stor gennemslagskraft og bidraget positivt til fornyelse af dansk og international kønsforskning. Da begrebet rummer potentialer til analyser af komplekse sociale differentieringer, er det imidlertid også relevant for en bredere sociologi. Nutidige højt differentierede samfund fordrer således begreber og metodologier, som er egnede til at gribe kompleksitet. Intersektionalitetstænkningen har teorihistoriske rødder i amerikansk sort standpunktsfeminisme. I Danmark blev begrebet først anvendt af poststrukturalistiske socialpsykologer, som gentænkte det og gjorde det velegnet til at analysere, hvordan komplekse identiteter skabes i hverdagslivet. Senere er begrebet blevet anvendt af kønsforskere med andre faglige og videnskabsteoretiske udgangspunkter. I artiklen fremhæves det, at intersektionalitetsbegrebet kan anvendes til at producere forskellige typer sociologisk viden. I den forbindelse præsenteres en typologi over forskellige tilgange til intersektionalitetsanalyser, som bruges som afsæt til at skitsere tre eksempler på analyser af social ulighed og eksklusion. ENGELSK ABSTRACT: Sune Qvotrup Jensen and Ann-Dorte Christensen: Inter-sectionality as a Sociological Concept Contemporary highly differentiated societies require concepts and methodologies which are suited for grasping complexity. Intersectionality is a fruitful approach to analyze this complexity because social forms of differentiation such as gender, class, ethnicity and “race” are understood as mutually co-constructing at the level of individual identities and at the level of social structures. Intersectionality is a travelling concept which is theoretically rooted in black American feminism. In Denmark, the concept was first used by post-structuralist social psychologists, who adapted it to analyzing how complex identities were created in everyday life. Later on the concept was later taken up by gender researchers within the social sciences. This article analyses how the concept of intersectionality can be used to produce different types of sociological knowledge. It introduces a typology of approaches to intersectionality analyses, which serves as the backdrop for three examples of analyses of social inequality and exclusion. Key words: Intersectionality, complexity, social differentiation, gender, class, ethnicity.

scholarly journals SOCIAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE FOURTH AGE

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S696-S697
Author(s):  
John Pothen ◽  
Emily C Dore ◽  
Ellen Idler
Keyword(s):  
Social Network ◽  
Human Dignity ◽  
Oldest Old ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Population Based ◽  
Social Characteristics ◽  
The Third ◽  
The Social ◽  
Nationally Representative ◽  
Network Patterns

Abstract How can we differentiate distinct phases of aging in later life? Theorizations of the third and fourth age posit that later life often involves a time of continued growth and increased opportunity (the “third age”) as well as a time marked by growing cognitive, physical, and social losses (the “fourth age”). In contrast to population-based definitions that place this transition around the age of 80, a person-based definition using frailty as a marker offers more sensitivity by focusing on ability and agency instead of age alone. In this study, we apply both definitions in order to examine the social characteristics of the fourth age. Using a nationally representative sample of adults over the age of 65 from from the National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS) seventh round (n=6,312) we find that the population-based definition overestimates the number of adults in the fourth age (2,834 vs 569; p<0.001). Additionally, social network patterns observed when comparing adults above and below the age of 80 - increased rates of including a daughter or son and a decreased rate of including a friend - are not seen when comparing adults who do and do not meet criteria for frailty. Our findings suggest that common understandings of the social characteristics of the oldest old - understandings with important implications for policy and the promotion of human dignity - may be biased by focusing on age alone as a marker of change instead of ability and agency.

scholarly journals Generalizing from Survey Experiments Conducted on Mechanical Turk: A Replication Approach

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 613-628 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Coppock
Keyword(s):  
Treatment Effect ◽  
Experimental Treatment ◽  
Mechanical Turk ◽  
Background Characteristics ◽  
The Public ◽  
Treatment Effect Heterogeneity ◽  
Survey Experiments ◽  
Amazon's Mechanical Turk ◽  
Effect Heterogeneity

To what extent do survey experimental treatment effect estimates generalize to other populations and contexts? Survey experiments conducted on convenience samples have often been criticized on the grounds that subjects are sufficiently different from the public at large to render the results of such experiments uninformative more broadly. In the presence of moderate treatment effect heterogeneity, however, such concerns may be allayed. I provide evidence from a series of 15 replication experiments that results derived from convenience samples like Amazon’s Mechanical Turk are similar to those obtained from national samples. Either the treatments deployed in these experiments cause similar responses for many subject types or convenience and national samples do not differ much with respect to treatment effect moderators. Using evidence of limited within-experiment heterogeneity, I show that the former is likely to be the case. Despite a wide diversity of background characteristics across samples, the effects uncovered in these experiments appear to be relatively homogeneous.

De cognitieve drie-eenheid: realiseren, interpreteren en abstraheren

2014 ◽  
Vol 106 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hans Radder
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Philosophy Of Science ◽  
Philosophy Of Language ◽  
Ordinary Life ◽  
Conceptual Innovation ◽  
The Social ◽  
Causal Judgments ◽  
Different Types ◽  
The Relationship

The article consists of three main sections, in which I successively discuss the nature and role of realization, interpretation and abstraction in experimental and observational processes. In this way, these sections address several fundamental problems in philosophy of science, ontology and epistemology, and philosophy of language. Section 1 introduces the notion of realization processes, and argues that successful realization requires causal judgments. The second section discusses the role of conceptual interpretation in experiments and observations, explains how realization and interpretation can be distinguished, and emphasizes the significance of different types and ranges of experimental and observational reproducibility. It also includes a subsection on the issue of reproducibility in contemporary social sciences and psychology. Section 3 explains how concepts are abstracted from existing realization processes, and concludes that abstraction bestows a nonlocal meaning on these extensible concepts. In addition, I discuss and criticize some rival views of abstraction and concept meaning (to wit, mentalism and localism). The article concludes with some observations on the notion of a (cognitive) trinity.In my reply, I respond to the points raised in the six commentary papers. The following issues are addressed: the place of causality in physics (Steffen Ducheyne), perception in ordinary life (Monica Meijsing), the role of reproducibility in psychology and the social sciences (Daniël Lakens, Ruud Abma), the significance and implications of conceptual innovation (Lieven Decock), and the relationship between meaning, communication and ontology (Martin Stokhof and Michiel van Lambalgen).

The Social Psychology of Property: Looking Beyond Market Exchange

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 367-380 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janice Nadler
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Social Psychology ◽  
Social Relationships ◽  
Legal Regulation ◽  
Market Exchange ◽  
Social Psychological ◽  
Legal Doctrine ◽  
The Social ◽  
Different Types ◽  
The Individual

Our social norms and moral values shape our beliefs about the propriety of different types of market exchanges. This review considers social and moral influences on beliefs about property and the consequences of these beliefs for the legal regulation of property. The focus is mainly on empirical evidence from social psychology, with additions from related areas like cognitive psychology, behavioral economics, and other social sciences. After briefly reviewing empirical findings on perceptions of property at the level of the individual person, I examine how social relationships shape perceptions about ownership and exchange of property, as well as the boundaries of the broad category of property. Finally, I explore one important type of socially embedded property—the home—and how social psychological conceptions of property as embedded in social relationships have clashed with the development of the legal doctrine of eminent domain.

photography as a research method

2020 ◽  
pp. 568-600
Author(s):  
Gunilla Holm
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Informed Consent ◽  
Research Method ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
The Social ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Ethnographic Analysis ◽  
The Impact

This chapter discusses the development of photography as a research method in the social sciences. It describes the different types of photographs used, such as archival photographs and photographs taken by the researcher, and it focuses especially on photographs taken by participants. The uses of different approaches to obtain photographs and issues of interest concerning each approach are presented. The most common approaches to analyze photographs, such as content analysis, discourse analysis, and ethnographic analysis, are described. Interesting and challenging questions about the interpretation and presentation of photographs are raised, such as the impact of the researcher’s and participants’ habitus on the interpretation of photographs. Finally, ethical issues in research using photographs are considered, especially the meaning of informed consent, and confidentiality in photographic research is emphasized.

Enacting networks, crossing borders: On the internationalization of the social sciences in Mexico

2019 ◽  
Vol 67 (5) ◽  
pp. 705-722
Author(s):  
Leandro Rodriguez Medina
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Peripheral Region ◽  
The Other ◽  
Ideal Types ◽  
Strategic Networks ◽  
The Social ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Global North ◽  
The One

The study of the internationalization of science seems to be focused on the natural and formal sciences and on networks of the Global North. A shift towards the social sciences and a peripheral region (Mexico) is proposed here and shows that two different types of networks are enacted to face the challenges of internationalized research. On the one hand, there are strategic networks which internalize the pressure of incentives brought to bear on academics and tend to reproduce an over-professionalized idea of the academia. On the other, there are engaged networks that try to strengthen international bonds according to certain politico-ethical imperatives. In this article, relying on current research on internationalization of the Mexican social sciences, the author explores the usefulness of these ideal-types of networks and discusses their implications.

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