Survey Professionalism: New Evidence from Web Browsing Data

Probability‐based web surveys are increasingly challenged by decreasing response rates and high costs. A cheap and convenient solution is to use ‘opt‐in’ online panels, which are based on non‐probability samples. However, the quality of the data such panels produce is subject to debate. To improve our understanding in this regard, especially in the Swiss context, we compare conditional distributions of sociodemographic variables and voting behaviour of two probability‐based web surveys and three opt‐in panels. Indeed, point estimates in opt‐in panels are well studied, but bivariate relationships between variables, arguably more important for researchers in political science research, have received less attention. Our analysis has the advantage of most variables of interest being included in the sampling frame and thus the true values are known for each conditional distribution. Our results show a lack of consistency and reproducibility in the results from opt‐in panels, which leads us to recommend care when using this type of data.

Action research is a specific type of scientific research which, in addition to having all the general features of scientific research, also has its own unique characteristics that distinguish it from other types of research. In order to understand action research in political science it is necessary to have knowledge of the main aspects of politics, political phenomena and processes. Every political phenomenon is associated with a particular activity, action, because it (the phenomenon) always represents a certain relation between people, their needs, interests and goals. We can, therefore, conclude that all politicological research is, in its essence, action research. The basic classification of action research in political science according to purpose is one of the more relevant classifications and comprises: action research whose purpose is the creation of scientific basis for political action, and action research which is the instrument of political action. Within these two types, by application of diverse criteria, there exist numerous subtypes of action research. The primary difference between action research and other types of scientific research is in the method of research, as part of the outline of the scientific idea, i.e. the project of research.

ABSTRACTEducation advocates lament the “leaky pipeline” in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), whereby students—especially minorities and women—drop out of STEM at successive stages of the educational system. Defining empirical political science as a branch of STEM, this article proposes that undergraduate research in political science can help to patch this leaky pipeline and expand access to scientific skills and habits of mind. I elaborate on three rationales to support my claim: (1) political science is a relatively diverse field of STEM; (2) college primes students to think like (political) scientists; and (3) students often encounter political science research opportunities for the first time as undergraduates, presenting an opportunity for faculty to “catch” those who selected out of STEM after high school. I substantiate my arguments by drawing on enrollment data, archival documents, the theories of John Dewey, and testimonials from former undergraduate researchers. I also recommend ways for political science departments to provide a meaningful STEM education by enhancing research programs.

Previous articleNext article No AccessThe Reapportionment Decisions: A Return to Dogma?A. Spencer HillA. Spencer Hill Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by The Journal of Politics Volume 31, Number 1Feb., 1969 Sponsored by the Southern Political Science Association Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.2307/2128566 Views: 3Total views on this site Citations: 4Citations are reported from Crossref Copyright 1969 Southern Political Science AssociationPDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article: Gary J. Jacobsohn The "Pragmatic Dogma" of the Political Thicket: The Jurisprudential Paradox of "One Man, One Vote", Polity 9, no.33 (Nov 2016): 279–301.https://doi.org/10.2307/3234224Robert G. Dixon Who is Listening? Political Science Research in Public Law, PS: Political Science & Politics 4, no.0101 (Sep 2013): 19–26.https://doi.org/10.1017/S1049096500002523Robert G. Dixon Who is Listening? Political Science Research in Public Law, PS 4, no.11 (Nov 2022): 19–26.https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030826900602886Robert G. Dixon Who is Listening? Political Science Research in Public Law, PS 4, no.11 (Nov 2022): 19–26.https://doi.org/10.2307/418570

Since the reinstatement of political science as an academic discipline in 1980, the Chinese political science scholarship has as much studied China-related issues as adopted from the West a large number of scholarly findings, research methodology, and theories including the modernization theory in the 1980s, the democratic transition theory from the 1990s onwards, and the governance theory in the twenty-first century. Through the academic dialogue between China and the West, the political science research community in China has, by the same token, formulated its own theories on democracy and governance that are derived from China’s experiences. Furthermore, along with the unprecedented transformations throughout the whole society, Chinese political science has equally undergone major changes, of which a case in point can be the calling in this article for a political science research using "China as a method" (For this notion of "China as a Method", although it comes from Yuzo Mizoguchi, a Japanese scholar on China studies, it is also a product of the mutual learning across civilizations and also benefits from the inspiration of "taking the reform as the methodology". The so-called "China as the methodology" not only focuses on "China as the center", basing one’s research on China, answering questions about China, and putting forward China-based propositions; it also means that the ontology, epistemology, and methodological knowledge generated by “China as the center” or “China as a method” can become a theoretical orientation and methodological framework for Chinese political research in the world.). The best way to understand China is to study its political history, as Chinese history is mainly a political one, demonstrating a high degree of historical continuity. For this very reason, we have proposed a historical political science as a method for studying China—an approach that is different from historical sociology. The historical political science is, indeed, not Chinese-centered or -focused, where a comparative historical analysis will be ushered in as well.

We describe and analyze patterns in the geographical focus of political science research across more than a century. Using a new database of titles and abstracts from 27,690 publications in eight major political science journals from their inception, we demonstrate that, historically, political scientists concentrated their studies on a limited number of countries situated in North America and Western Europe. While a strong focus on Western countries remains today, we detail how this picture has changed somewhat over recent decades, with political science research becoming increasingly “globalized.” Still, several countries have received almost no attention, and geographical citation patterns differ by subfield. For example, we find indications of a greater focus on the United States and large Western European countries in international relations than in comparative politics publications. We also analyze several correlates of a country being the focus of political science research, including the country’s predominant languages, income, population size, democracy level, and conflict experience, and show systematic variation in the geographical focus of research. This unequal focus, we argue, has important implications regarding the applicability of extant descriptive and causal claims, as well as the development of theories in political science.

This article will survey the first three issues of the journal Zhengzhixue yanjiu (Political Science Research) for 1986 in order to give some idea of the state of political science in China today. Zhengzhixue yanjiu is the organ of the Political Science Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Although that Institute was set up in 1980, together with the reestablishment of the Chinese Political Science Association,1 it was not until 1985 that a regular journal was published. Indeed, a consistent theme of the articles in the journal has been the undeveloped nature of the field and the fact that the vast majority of universities do not yet have political science departments. Before 1949, 45 of the 200 or so universities in China included political science departments.2 In 1952 these were abolished in accordance with Soviet practice. It was felt at that time that the separate discipline of political science was 'bourgeois'. Marxist-Leninist orthodoxy had for long criticised Western political science for separating politics from economics, preferring to see their integration under the rubric of political economy. But abolishing political science departments was not just a question of emulating Soviet orthodoxy. Clearly, some cadres felt, they had conducted a successful war without the benefit of officer training as was provided in Guomindang academies. They did not need to study military science, why then should they study political science? Of course, some politics was taught in the years before 1978 but this tended to be rather narrow studies of Marxism-Leninism Mao Zedong Thought. For over thirty years there was hostility to the general discipline of political science. Indeed, it was probably because of general distaste among academics for the kind of 'politics' which was 'in command' and which was taught in the years of the Cultural Revolution that hostility towards the academic study of

The market and social research industry is increasingly reliant on fast turnaround and efficient online survey research to collect high quality data to inform clients’ information needs. It is frequently acknowledged that high quality data is essential for effective managerial decision-making and one of the main drivers for selecting a supplier. Academic researchers have been critical of survey data from online panels, and they question the lack of quality metrics collected and reported by the industry. One of the main data quality challenges is to reduce measurement error associated with lack of respondent participation and considered response effort. Low respondent participation and response effort in online surveys has been associated with: (1) the respondent characteristics and motivations, (2) the survey environment, including the device used, survey software deployed and visual format of the questions, (3) the survey topic, (4) survey length, and (5) incentives offered. Subgroups of the population are not being represented in online panel samples. Samples from panels also have high non-response or low completion rates. Neither of these factors is random. Both these factors also have major implications for the representativity of the sample collected.The overarching research question in this thesis asks if there are contextual factors that affect respondent participation and response effort that can be used to develop strategies to improve online survey data quality and, if so, what indicators of respondent performance empirically test them? The thesis explores this question guided by a conceptual framework based on cognitive load to assess respondent performance through the application of several cognitive theories that attempt to explain attention to survey stimulus and the decision-making process involved in responding to a survey.Essays from five studies included in this thesis are organised into three sections: (1) problem identification, (2) theoretical contribution, and (3) practical implications and conclusions. Each study is directed by a specific research question, data source and analysis technique to contribute knowledge to different parts of the conceptual framework. The first three studies identify the problems associated with respondent participation and effort, including a systematic bias in completion rates driven by device preference, which in turn is associated with socio-demographic characteristics. In addition, perceived survey duration is associated with satisficing, satisfaction and motivation to participate. However, the format of the survey question is less likely to influence respondent performance. Theoretical contribution is provided in the fourth essay. A model to optimise survey participation is informed by the heterogeneity of panel members and the relationship between ten contextual factors that drive or hinder response propensity. A practical application of how to minimise cognitive load by reducing superfluous survey items in a data-driven way using a new statistical method is provided in the final essay.The four key findings of this research are: (1) perceived survey length is associated with survey burden, (2) satisficing occurs frequently and is often an unconscious heuristic to process information efficiently rather than a conscious decision to minimise cognitive effort, (3) motivations to complete surveys can be based on perceived cognitive load, and (4) simple, short, relevant surveys result in less mental load, lower measurement error and greater respondent satisfaction. The research proposes managerial implications such as the use of a conceptual framework to design and test interventions to improve data quality in online surveys. It establishes a framework for academics and practitioners to collect and report respondent performance data. Performance assessment can be used to test interventions which aim to increase survey participation and predict response propensity. It demonstrates how to reduce superfluous instruction text and survey items to increase responding with considered effort.The conclusions of this research call for participant-centric strategies to engage attention and increase motivation to complete a survey with considered effort. Due to the multiple contextual factors that affect survey participation and response effort, a set of performance indicators should be collected to inform the personalisation of survey design for panel members. The benefit to the market and social research industry is immediately knowing how to gain cooperation from survey participants to complete the survey diligently, which improves online survey data quality.Despite its contributions to theory, method and practice, this thesis is not without its limitations. First, there is a need for sophisticated neuroscience experiments and the use of paradata to fully investigate cognitive processing to inform theory and practice. Second, despite the thesis greatly advancing knowledge about respondents’ cognitive processing behaviour, more attention is needed to empirically appraise the assessment factors in the framework. The popularity of online surveys will continue to grow with new technological solutions, which present opportunities in future for academics who study survey methodology. The use of assessment factors of respondent performance to estimate the measurement error in online surveys by focusing on cognitive load theory is advanced by work in this thesis.

Where's the Pluralism? The Lack of Methodological Pluralism in Political Science and International Political Economy

This article argues that bottom–up, people-centered research which uses ethnographic and everyday approaches is crucial but underutilized in research on identity politics in Eastern Europe. In order to understand what concepts such as ethnicity and citizenship mean in the context of people’s everyday lives, it is vital to understand whether taken-for-granted political concepts are appropriate and the make-up of data such as census data. The article first introduces the methods of political ethnography and bottom–up interviews by discussing how they can be applied and their value within political science. The paper uses data gathered from interviews in Moldova and Crimea (when it was still a de jure and de facto part of Ukraine) to demonstrate the value of this approach. It shows how interview data can add significantly to the understanding of kin-state relations within political science by adding a richness of context and a bottom–up perspective that quantitative and elite-level interviews fail to provide. Lastly, the paper draws on experiences gained from research design to discuss how bottom–up research in political science can be conducted rigorously. The article argues that this approach can deepen the understanding of identity politics and kin-state relations or, more broadly, important post-communist questions such as democratization and Europeanization.

The increase in computing power in the last four decades has had an enormous impact upon the way political scientists conduct research. In this article, we review the development of computing resources and the lifting of computational limitations of the use of political methodologies. Using descriptive analysis, we demonstrate that Moore's Law, or the doubling of power in computing hardware every 18 months, is closely associated with the adoption of advanced statistical methods and database availability in political science research. Our findings are surely not startling to researchers, but our analyses do highlight and provide important details as to the evolution of the profession over the last few decades. We aim to provide hints as to the future direction of political science research as computational capabilities continue to grow.

Time-to-event analysis is a common occurrence in political science. In recent years, there has been an increased usage of machine learning methods in quantitative political science research. This article advocates for the implementation of machine learning duration models to assist in a sound model selection process. We provide a brief tutorial introduction to the random survival forest (RSF) algorithm and contrast it to a popular predecessor, the Cox proportional hazards model, with emphasis on methodological utility for political science researchers. We implement both methods for simulated time-to-event data and the Power-Sharing Event Dataset (PSED) to assist researchers in evaluating the merits of machine learning duration models. We provide evidence of significantly higher survival probabilities for peace agreements with 3rd party mediated design and implementation. We also detect increased survival probabilities for peace agreements that incorporate territorial power-sharing and avoid multiple rebel party signatories. Further, the RSF, a previously under-used method for analyzing political science time-to event data, provides a novel approach for ranking of peace agreement criteria importance in predicting peace agreement duration. Our findings demonstrate a scenario exhibiting the interpretability and performance of RSF for political science time-to-event data. These findings justify the robust interpretability and competitive performance of the random survival forest algorithm in numerous circumstances, in addition to promoting a diverse, holistic model-selection process for time-to-event political science data.

The problem ofjustifying democracy arises when a society sees the need for cooperative, collective action. Collective action may be needed to solve coordination problems, public goods problems, Prisoner's Dilemmas, and other structural problems of human interaction or perhaps to realize common ideals of justice in concrete political institutions. Once the need for collective action is established, one must ask how the goals of a cooperative endeavor are to be secured. Cooperation requires that individuals, at least over a specified range of activity, pursue a joint strategy. To assure voluntary compliance in a joint venture, cooperation must be to each person's advantage. However, each person may have an incentive to induce others to cooperate and to defect from the joint strategy in the hope of enjoying the fruits of cooperation without incurring the opportunity costs of compliance. This is the essence of the Prisoner's Dilemma, and considerations of this sort suggest that if collective action is to succeed, policies or strategies formed collectively must be coercively enforceable. Coercion, however, requires justification. Because solving the problem of rational noncompliance requires that collective decisions be coercively enforceable, the rules by which collective decisions are reached require justification. Douglas Rae neatly puts the problem of justification that emerges when political solutions are coercively enforceable as follows: "Once a political community has decided which of its members are to participate directly in the making of collective policy, an important question remains: 'How many of them must agree before a policy is imposed on the community?"" This is essentially the question to which the principle of democratic rule provides an answer: by what process are collective decisions to be made? Answering Rae's question requires a normative framework. We could say that a procedure for making collective decisions is justified if and

This study presents a bibliometric analysis of political science and public administration publications in Türkiye that are indexed in the WoS database from 1966 to 2024. 555 documents were analyzed using VOSviewer and Microsoft Excel. The documents were evaluated based on authors, publication years, types, institutions of the authors, journals in which they were published, citation counts, and keyword usage The results show a substantial increase in publications, especially after 2015. Most research comes from a small group of prolific authors and leading institutions. Thematic analysis highlights strong interdisciplinary links with economics, education, and international relations. Citation network analysis reveals that a few articles receive most of the citations. Overall, this study provides insights into the evolution, productivity, thematic trends, and global integration of Türkiye-affiliated research in political science and public administration. This study contributes to our understanding of national research ecosystems and provides valuable insights for the strategic development of the social sciences.

This paper is a reflective and experiential piece on practising interpretive policy research — a meaning focus sed approach to studying politics. Much effort in recent years has gone into defining and defending interpretive methods against positivist approaches in political science. Yet surprisingly little is known about how researchers actually ‘interpret’ the political world, and what issues they face in practice. This paper follows the journey of an interpretive project and reflects on a series of methodological issues it posed. The discussion reveals that interpretive methods can be demanding on researchers: they needto immerse themselves in policy practice, engage iteratively, embrace uncertainty, and work with multiple interpretations. To encourage learning and improve the practice of interpretive research in political science, this paper calls on scholars to be more reflexive about what they do by sharing their research experiences.