Web Survey Bibliography
Title What Does the Satisfaction with Democracy Measure Mean to Respondents in Different Countries? How Cross-National Web Probing Can Contribute to Answering this Question
Year 2014
Access date 08.09.2014
Abstract
The item measuring satisfaction with democracy is a core item in (comparative) political research. However, what exactly it measures is a bone of contention among researchers (Anderson, 2002; Canache, Mondak, & Seligson, 2001; Linde & Ekman, 2003). Does it measure satisfaction with incumbent authorities, with the political system in general, or is it in fact a summary indicator of political support? Moreover, how comparable is the measurement across countries in cross-national survey research? To shed light on the measurement dimensions in a cross-national perspective, we conducted cross-national web probing: In October 2011, we fielded web surveys in Denmark, Canada, Germany, Hungary, Spain, and the U.S. About 250 respondents in each country first answered the closed satisfaction item (“And on the whole, how satisfied are you with the way democracy works in [country]?” using an 11-point-scale ranging from “extremely dissatisfied” to “extremely satisfied”). They then answered an open-ended category-selection probe asking for a reason for having chosen a particular scale value. The respondents were recruited from non-representative online panels according to sociodemographic quota. Results of the closed democracy item were compared to benchmark surveys to ensure that we were working with a reasonable response distribution. A coding scheme was developed and the answers were coded accordingly. In all countries, satisfaction with policy outcomes, incumbent authorities, and the functioning of the system in general was simultaneously measured by the item, but to different degrees across the different countries. The paper will present in detail the interpretation patterns across countries. While the results can provide a basis for further discussion among political scientists, they also allow presenting the usefulness of web probing to learn more about what we actually measure, both in national and in cross-national contexts.
Access/Direct link
Year of publication2014
Bibliographic typeConferences, workshops, tutorials, presentations
Web survey bibliography (109)
- Telephone versus Online Survey Modes for Election Studies: Comparing Canadian Public Opinion and Vote...; 2017; Breton, C.; Cutler, F.; Lachance, S.; Mierke-Zatwarnicki, A.
- Comparing acquiescent and extreme response styles in face-to-face and web surveys; 2017; Liu, M.; Conrad, F. G.; Lee, S.
- The Failure of the Polls: Lessons Learned from the 2015 UK Polling Disaster; 2017; Sturgis, P.
- Incorporating eye tracking into cognitive interviewing to pretest survey questions; 2016; Neuert, C.; Lenzner, T.
- Are interviews costing £0.08 a waste of money? Reviewing Google Surveys for Wisdom of the Crowd...; 2016; Roughton, G.; MacKay, I.
- The Effects of a Delayed Incentive on Response Rates, Response Mode, Data Quality, and Sample Bias in...; 2016; McGonagle, K., Freedman, V. A.
- Privacy Concerns in Responses to Sensitive Questions. A Survey Experiment on the Influence of Numeric...; 2016; Bader, F., Bauer, J., Kroher, M., Riordan, P.
- Does survey mode matter for studying electoral behaviour? Evidence from the 2009 German Longitudinal...; 2016; Bytzek, E.; Bieber, I. E.
- Forecasting proportional representation elections from non-representative expectation surveys; 2016; Graefe, A.
- Evaluating Online Labor Markets for Experimental Research: Amazon.com's Mechanical Turk; 2016; Berinsky, A.; Huber, G. A.; Lenz, G. S.
- Report of the Inquiry into the 2015 British general election opinion polls; 2016; Sturgis, P., Baker, N., Callegaro, M., Fisher, St., Green, J., Jennings, W., Kuha, J., Lauderdale, B...
- Sample Representation and Substantive Outcomes Using Web With and Without Incentives Compared to Telephone...; 2016; Lipps, O.; Pekari, N.
- Evaluating a New Proposal for Detecting Data Falsification in Surveys; 2016; Simmons, K.; Mercer, A. W.; Schwarzer, S.; Courtney, K.
- Identifying Pertinent Variables for Nonresponse Follow-Up Surveys. Lessons Learned from 4 Cases in Switzerland...; 2016; Vandenplas, C.; Joye, D.; Staehli, M. E.; Pollien, A.
- Methods can matter: Where Web surveys produce different results than phone interviews; 2016; Keeter, S.
- HUFFPOLLSTER: Why Reaching Latinos Is A Challenge For Pollsters; 2016; Jackson, N. M.; Edwards-Levy, A.; Velencia, J.
- Moderators of Candidate Name-Order Effects in Elections: An Experiment; 2016; Kim, Nu.; Krosnick, J. A.; Casasanto, D.
- Measuring Generalized Trust: An Examination of Question Wording and the Number of Scale Points; 2016; Lundmark, S.; Giljam, M.; Dahlberg, S.
- Online and Social Media Data As an Imperfect Continuous Panel Survey; 2016; Diaz, F.; Garmon, F.; Hofman, J. K.; Kiciman, E.; Rothschild, D.
- Translating Answers to Open-ended Survey Questions in Cross-cultural Research: A Case Study on the Interplay...; 2015; Behr, D.
- Using Video to Reinvigorate the Open Question; 2015; Cape, P.
- On Bias Adjustments for Web Surveys; 2015; Fan, L.; Lou, W.; Landsman, V.
- Measuring Political Knowledge in Web-Based Surveys: An Experimental Validation of Visual Versus Verbal...; 2015; Munzert, S.; Selb, P.
- Mode System Effects in an Online Panel Study: Comparing a Probability-based Online Panel with two Face...; 2015; Struminskaya, B.; De Leeuw, E. D.; Kaczmirek, L.
- Data collection mode effect on feeling thermometer questions: A comparison of face-to-face and Web surveys...; 2015; Liu, M., Wang, Yi.
- Do Attempts to Improve Respondent Attention Increase Social Desirability Bias?; 2015; Clifford, S.; Jerit, J.
- HUFFPOLLSTER: Pollsters Debate If Modern Surveys Can Be Trusted; 2015; Blumenthal, M.; Edwards-Levy, A.; Velencia, J.
- Can a non-probabilistic online panel achieve question quality similar to that of the European Social...; 2015; Revilla, M.; Saris, W. E.; Loewe, G.; Ochoa, C.
- Data Collection Mode Effects On Political Knowledge; 2014; Liu, M., Wang, Y.
- Self-reported cheating in web surveys on political knowledge; 2014; Jensen, C., Thomsen, J. P. F.
- The Power of Partisanship in Brazil: Evidence from Survey Experiments; 2014; Samuels, D., Zucco, C.
- Online Polls and Registration-Based Sampling: A New Method for Pre-Election Polling; 2014; Barber, M. J., Mann, C. B., Monson, J. Q., Patterson, K. D.
- Does Survey Mode Still Matter? Findings from a 2010 Multi-Mode Comparison; 2014; Ansolabehere, S., Schaffner, B. F.
- Measuring Political Participation—Testing Social Desirability Bias in a Web-Survey Experiment; 2014; Persson, M., Solevid, M.
- What Does the Satisfaction with Democracy Measure Mean to Respondents in Different Countries? How Cross...; 2014; Behr, D., Braun, M.
- Professional respondents in nonprobability online panels; 2014; Hillygus, D. S., Jackson, N. M., Young, M.
- Online panels and validity; 2014; Groenlund, K., Strandberg, K.
- Two Are Better Than One: The Use of a Mixed-Mode Data Collection to Improve the Electoral Forecast; 2014; de Rada, V. D., Pasadas del Amo, S.
- The Short-term Campaign Panel of the German Longitudinal Election Study 2009. Design, Implementation...; 2013; Steinbrecher, M., Rossmann, J.
- Relative Mode Effects on Data Quality in Mixed-Mode Surveys by an Instrumental Variable; 2013; Vannieuwenhuyze, J. T. A., Revilla, M.
- Web Versus Outbound: A Mode Face-Off Following the Presidential Debate; 2013; Marlar, J.
- Propensity Score Weighting – Can Personality Adjust for Selectivity?; 2013; Glantz, A., Greszki, R.
- Especially for You: Motivating Respondents in an Internet Panel by Offering Tailored Questions; 2012; Oudejans, M.
- Presidential Elections in Iceland 2012 – Did online panel surveys give false hope to new candidates...; 2012; Jonsdottir, G. A., Dofradottir, A. G., Bjornsdottir, A. E.
- Effects of Technical Difficulties on Item Nonresponse and Response Favorability in a Mixed-Mode Survey...; 2012; Gibson, J. L.
- Where is Neutral? Using Negativity Biases to Interpret Thermometer Scores; 2012; Soroka, S., Albaugh, Q.
- I Got a Feeling: Comparison of Feeling Thermometers with Verbally Labeled Scales in Attitude Measurement...; 2012; Thomas, R. K., Bremer, J.
- Scrutinizing Dynamics – Rolling panel waves in theory and practice; 2012; Faas, T., Blumenberg, J. N.
- Toward wiser public judgment; 2011; Yankelovich, D., Friedman, W.
- Mass informed consent: Evidence on upgrading democracy with polls and new media; 2011; Simon, A. F.