scholarly journals Advantages of Matched Over Unmatched Opt-in Samples for Studying Criminal Justice Attitudes: A Research Note

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amanda Graham ◽  
Justin Pickett ◽  
Francis T. Cullen

PURPOSE: Despite the growing popularity of online opt-in samples in criminology, recent work shows that resultant findings often do not generalize. Not all opt-in samples are alike, however, and matching may improve data quality. Replicating and extending prior work, we compare the generalizability of relational inferences from unmatched and matched opt-in samples.METHODS: Estimating identical models for four criminal justice outcomes, we compare multivariate regression results from national matched (YouGov) and unmatched (MTurk) opt-in samples to those from the General Social Survey (GSS). RESULTS: YouGov coefficients are almost always in the same direction as GSS coefficients, especially when statistically significant, and are mostly of a similar magnitude; less than 10% of the YouGov and GSS coefficients differ significantly. By contrast, MTurk coefficients are more likely to be in the wrong direction, more likely to be much larger or smaller, and are over twice as likely to differ significantly from GSS coefficients.CONCLUSIONS: Matched opt-in samples provide a relatively inexpensive data source for criminal justice researchers, compared to probability samples, and also appear to carry a smaller generalizability penalty than unmatched samples. Our study suggests relational inferences from matched opt-in samples are more likely to generalize than those from unmatched samples.

2020 ◽  
pp. 001112872097743
Author(s):  
Amanda Graham ◽  
Justin T. Pickett ◽  
Francis T. Cullen

Despite the growing popularity of online opt-in samples in criminology, recent work shows that resultant findings often do not generalize. Not all opt-in samples are alike, however, and matching may improve data quality. Replicating and extending prior work, we compare the generalizability of relational inferences from unmatched and matched opt-in samples. Estimating identical models for four criminal justice outcomes, we compare multivariate regression results from national matched (YouGov) and unmatched (MTurk) opt-in samples to those from the General Social Survey (GSS). YouGov coefficients are almost always in the same direction as GSS coefficients, especially when statistically significant, and are mostly of a similar magnitude; less than 10% of the YouGov and GSS coefficients differ significantly. By contrast, MTurk coefficients are more likely to be in the wrong direction, more likely to be much larger or smaller, and are about three times as likely to differ significantly from GSS coefficients. Matched opt-in samples provide a relatively inexpensive data source for criminal justice researchers, compared to probability samples, and also appear to carry a smaller generalizability penalty than unmatched samples. Our study suggests relational inferences from matched opt-in samples are more likely to generalize than those from unmatched samples.


2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 572-588
Author(s):  
Hanyu Sun ◽  
Roger Tourangeau ◽  
Stanley Presser

Abstract It is well established that taking part in earlier rounds of a panel survey can affect how respondents answer questions in later rounds. It is less clear, however, whether panel participation affects the quality of the data that respondents provide. We examined two panels to investigate how participation affects several indicators of data quality—including straightlining, item missing data, scale reliabilities, and differences in item functioning over time—and to test the hypotheses that it is less educated and older respondents who mainly account for any panel effects. The two panels were the GfK Knowledge Panel, in which some respondents completed up to four rounds measuring their attitudes toward terrorism and ways to counter terrorism, and the General Social Survey (GSS), in which respondents completed up to three rounds with an omnibus set of questions. The two panels differ sharply in terms of response rates and the level of prior survey experience of the respondents. Most of our comparisons are within-respondent, comparing the answers panel members gave in earlier rounds with those they gave in later rounds, but we also confirm the main results using between-subject comparisons. We find little evidence that respondents gave either better or worse data over time in either panel and little support for either the education or age hypotheses.


2022 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 237802312110686
Author(s):  
Steven Brint ◽  
Michaela Curran ◽  
Matthew C. Mahutga

Social science interest in professionals and managers as a left- and liberal-trending stratum has increased in recent years. Using General Social Survey data over a 44-year period, the authors examine 15 attitudes spanning social, economic, and political identity liberalism. On nearly all attitudes, professionals and managers have trended in a liberal direction, have liberalized more quickly than blue-collar workers, and are either as or more liberal than blue-collar workers. The authors find that the higher levels of education among professionals and managers, their tendency to adopt nonauthoritarian outlooks, and their lower propensity to identify with fundamentalist religion mediate their more liberal trends vis-à-vis blue-collar workers. Conversely, their higher relative incomes suppress the extent of their economic and criminal justice liberalism. The authors’ theorization links changes in the macro-economy to growing gaps in the composition of the two strata and the activities of politicians and parties to consolidate emerging political differences.


Author(s):  
Leanne Findlay ◽  
Dafna Kohen

Affordability of child care is fundamental to parents’, in particular, women’s decision to work. However, information on the cost of care in Canada is limited. The purpose of the current study was to examine the feasibility of using linked survey and administrative data to compare and contrast parent-reported child care costs based on two different sources of data. The linked file brings together data from the 2011 General Social Survey (GSS) and the annual tax files (TIFF) for the corresponding year (2010). Descriptive analyses were conducted to examine the socio-demographic and employment characteristics of respondents who reported using child care, and child care costs were compared. In 2011, parents who reported currently paying for child care (GSS) spent almost $6700 per year ($7,500 for children age 5 and under). According to the tax files, individuals claimed just over $3900 per year ($4,700). Approximately one in four individuals who reported child care costs on the GSS did not report any amount on their tax file; about four in ten who claimed child care on the tax file did not report any cost on the survey. Multivariate analyses suggested that individuals with a lower education, lower income, with Indigenous identity, and who were self-employed were less likely to make a tax claim despite reporting child care expenses on the GSS. Further examination of child care costs by province and by type of care are necessary, as is research to determine the most accurate way to measure and report child care costs.


2015 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 21
Author(s):  
Scot Ausborn ◽  
Julia Rotondo ◽  
Tim Mulcahy

Mapping the General Social Survey to the Generic Statistical Business Process Model: NORC's Experience


2021 ◽  
pp. 073112142199485
Author(s):  
Ashley Wendell Kranjac ◽  
Robert L. Wagmiller

Americans’ attitudes toward same-sex relationships have liberalized considerably over the last 40 years. We examine how the demographic processes generating social change in attitudes toward same-sex relationships changed over time. Using data from the 1973 to 2018 General Social Survey and decomposition techniques, we estimate the relative contributions of intracohort change and cohort replacement to overall social change for three different periods. We examine (1) the period prior to the rapid increase in attitude liberalization toward same-sex marriage rights (1973–1991), (2) the period of contentious debate about same-sex marriage and lesbian and gay rights (1991–2002), and (3) the period of legislative and judicial liberalization at the state and federal levels (2002–2018). We find that both intracohort and intercohort change played positive and significant roles in the liberalization of attitudes toward same-sex relationships in the postlegalization period, but that individual change was more important than population turnover over this period.


2021 ◽  
pp. 193672442199825
Author(s):  
Felix Bittmann

According to the theory of liking, data quality might be improved in face-to-face survey settings when there is a high degree of similarity between respondents and interviewers, for example, with regard to gender or age. Using two rounds of European Social Survey data from 25 countries including more than 70,000 respondents, this concept is tested for the dependent variables amount of item nonresponse, reluctance to answer, and the probability that a third adult person is interfering with the interview. The match between respondents and interviewers is operationalized using the variables age and gender and their statistical interactions to analyze how this relates to the outcomes. While previous studies can be corroborated, overall effect sizes are small. In general, item nonresponse is lower when a male interviewer is conducting the interview. For reluctance, there are no matching effects at all. Regarding the presence of other adults, only female respondents profit from a gender match, while age is without any effect. The results indicate that future surveys should weigh the costs and benefits of sociodemographic matching as advantages are probably small.


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