Assessing the Validity of the Postmaterialism Index

1999 ◽  
Vol 93 (3) ◽  
pp. 649-664 ◽  
Author(s):  
Darren W. Davis ◽  
Christian Davenport
Keyword(s):  
Social Issues ◽  
Random Variable ◽  
Aggregate Level ◽  
Value Change ◽  
Actual Distribution ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Survey Questions ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Level Process

Inglehart's postmaterialism thesis describes an individual-level process of value change. Little attention has been devoted to validating the responses to his postmaterialist-materialist index. The aggregate-level distributions may appear to reflect a postmaterialist-materialist dimension, even if at the individual level responses on the questions making up the index are random. The logic of the survey questions used for the index defines a baseline against which the actual distribution of responses can be compared. Using such a standard, we find that individual responses are not constrained by an underlying value dimension, in the sense that the observed patterns of responses increasingly do not differ from what one would expect by chance. Furthermore, as one would expect for a random variable, index scores are virtually unexplainable as a dependent variable, and they cannot be used to predict support for various political and social issues, said to flow from attitudes measured by the index.

scholarly journals Frankly, We Do Give a Damn

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (7) ◽  
pp. 816-826 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gilad Feldman ◽  
Huiwen Lian ◽  
Michal Kosinski ◽  
David Stillwell
Keyword(s):  
Social Interactions ◽  
Positive Relationship ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Linguistic Analysis ◽  
The Other ◽  
Aggregate Level ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Common Causes ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Relationship

There are two conflicting perspectives regarding the relationship between profanity and dishonesty. These two forms of norm-violating behavior share common causes and are often considered to be positively related. On the other hand, however, profanity is often used to express one’s genuine feelings and could therefore be negatively related to dishonesty. In three studies, we explored the relationship between profanity and honesty. We examined profanity and honesty first with profanity behavior and lying on a scale in the lab (Study 1; N = 276), then with a linguistic analysis of real-life social interactions on Facebook (Study 2; N = 73,789), and finally with profanity and integrity indexes for the aggregate level of U.S. states (Study 3; N = 50 states). We found a consistent positive relationship between profanity and honesty; profanity was associated with less lying and deception at the individual level and with higher integrity at the society level.

Levels of Aggregation in Conjoint Analysis: An Empirical Comparison

1980 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 516-523 ◽  
Author(s):  
William L. Moore
Keyword(s):  
Conjoint Analysis ◽  
Predictive Power ◽  
Aggregate Level ◽  
Segmentation Method ◽  
Empirical Comparison ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Aggregate Analysis ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Level Analysis

Two segmented methods of performing conjoint anal/sis, clustered and componential segmentation, are compared with each other as well as with individual level and totally aggregate level analyses. The two segmented methods provide insights to the data that (1) are not obtainable at the aggregate level and (2) are in a form that is more easily communicated than the information from the individual level analysis. The predictive power of the clustered segmentation method is higher than that of componential segmentation, and both are superior to the aggregate analysis but inferior to individual level analysis.

Individual Components of Three Inequality Measures for Analyzing Shapes of Inequality

2019 ◽  
pp. 004912411987596
Author(s):  
Tim Futing Liao
Keyword(s):  
Sociological Research ◽  
Aggregate Level ◽  
Current Population Survey Data ◽  
Single Measure ◽  
Generalized Entropy ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Inequality Measures ◽  
Entropy Measures ◽  
Individual Contributions ◽  
The Individual

In common sociological research, income inequality is measured only at the aggregate level. The main purpose of this article is to demonstrate that there is more than meets the eye when inequality is indicated by a single measure. In this article, I introduce an alternative method that evaluates individuals’ contributions to inequality as well as the between-group and within-group components of these individual contributions. I first highlight three common inequality measures, the Gini index and two generalized entropy measures—Theil’s T and Theil’s L indices—by presenting their individual components as a method for evaluating inequality. Five artificial data examples illustrate the use of these individual components first. An empirical analysis of the 2007 and 2017 Current Population Survey data then focuses on the differences in inequality revealed by such individual inequality components between the 2007 and 2017. The individual-level inequality measures can reveal patterns of inequality concealed by single measures at the aggregate level. In particular, the Gini individual measures differentiate cases better than the generalized entropy measures and tend to have smaller standard errors in a regression analysis.

scholarly journals Network Structure of Affective Communication and Shared Emotion in Teams

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 159
Author(s):  
Seung-Yoon Rhee ◽  
Hyewon Park ◽  
Jonghoon Bae
Keyword(s):  
Communication Networks ◽  
Relative Effectiveness ◽  
Emotional Contagion ◽  
Project Teams ◽  
Affective Communication ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Student Club ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Emotional Convergence ◽  
Level Process

This paper identifies the relative effectiveness of two mechanisms of emotional contagion on shared emotion in teams: explicit mechanism (active spreading of one’s emotion) and implicit mechanism (passive mimicry of others’ emotion). Using social network analysis, this paper analyzes affective communication networks involving or excluding a focal person in the process of emotional contagion by disaggregating team emotional contagion into individual acts of sending or receiving emotion-laden responses. Through an experiment with 38 pre-existing work teams, including undergraduate or MBA project teams and teams of student club or co-op officers, we found that the explicit emotional contagion mechanism was a more stable channel for emotional contagion than the implicit emotional contagion mechanism. Active participation in affective communication, measured by outdegree centrality in affective communication networks, was positively and significantly associated with emotional contagion with other members. In contrast, a team member’s passive observation of humor, measured by ego network density, led to emotional divergence when all other members engaged in humor communication. Our study sheds light on the micro-level process of emotional contagion. The individual-level process of emotional convergence varies with the relational pattern of affective networks, and emotion contagion in teams depends on the interplay of the active expresser and the passive spectator in affective networks.

Trustees, Delegates, and Responsiveness in Comparative Perspective

2016 ◽  
Vol 50 (6) ◽  
pp. 766-793 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shaun Bowler
Keyword(s):  
Academic Research ◽  
Large Body ◽  
European Social Survey ◽  
Aggregate Level ◽  
Social Survey ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Conceptual Distinction ◽  
Citizen Preferences ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Government Responsiveness

A large body of aggregate-level work shows that government policies do indeed respond to citizen preferences. But whether citizens recognize that government is responsive is another question entirely. Indeed, a prior question is whether or not citizens value responsiveness in the way that academic research assumes they should in the first place. Using comparative data from the European Social Survey, this article examines how citizens see government responsiveness. We show that several key assumptions of the aggregate-level literature are met at the individual level. But we also present results that show that attitudes toward representation and responsiveness are colored, sometimes in quite surprising ways, by winner–loser effects. In a finding that stands in some contrast to the normative literature on the topic, we show that these sorts of short-term attitudes help shape preferences for models of representation. In particular, we show that the distinction between delegates and trustees is a conceptual distinction that has limits in helping us to understand citizen preferences for representation.

Discriminating between behaviour using market data from panels

2014 ◽  
Vol 56 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-88
Author(s):  
Hsiu-Yuan Tsao ◽  
Leyland Pitt ◽  
Colin Campbell
Keyword(s):  
Limiting Factors ◽  
Sequence Length ◽  
Aggregate Level ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Consumer Panel ◽  
Considerable Research ◽  
Switching Behaviour ◽  
Promotional Effect ◽  
Share Data ◽  
The Individual

Considerable research exists on stochastic models of switching behaviour that uses sequences of individual-level purchase data. While at the individual level, sample size and sequence length are limiting factors, at the aggregate level, heterogeneity with respect to purchase sequences may assist in interpreting results. The authors propose an approach to discriminate between the switching behaviour of variety seeking, indifference and reinforcement. Only the proportion of 100% loyal customers, market share data and an estimation of the promotional effect -information all available from consumer panel data - are necessary to fit the model.

Voting Outcomes in the 1984 Democratic Party Primaries and Caucuses

1987 ◽  
Vol 81 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-84 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Wayne Parent ◽  
Calvin C. Jillson ◽  
Ronald E. Weber
Keyword(s):  
Democratic Party ◽  
Aggregate Level ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Primary Election ◽  
Electoral Outcomes ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Scholarly Inquiry ◽  
Level Analysis ◽  
Level Of Analysis

Scholarly inquiry concerning influences on electoral outcomes in the presidential nomination process, though extensive, has been conducted almost exclusively with data collected at the individual level of analysis. The Michigan model of normal vote analysis suggests that long-term influences measured at the aggregate level, such as the sociodemographic, economic, and ideological characteristics of the states, are also important in determining electoral outcomes. We present an aggregate-level analysis of state characteristics that affected the Hart, Jackson, and Mondale vote proportions in the 1984 Democratic caucuses and primaries. Our primary election models explain between 65% and 83% of the variance in candidate vote shares, with sociodemographic and economic factors as the leading indicators. In the caucuses, we find that campaign spending and sociodemographic influences are dominant in models that explain between 38% and 81% of the variance. We conclude with a brief discussion of what our findings mean for future Democratic candidates.

scholarly journals Magnitude effect in intertemporal allocation tasks

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chen Sun ◽  
Jan Potters
Keyword(s):  
Discount Rate ◽  
Time Preference ◽  
Magnitude Effect ◽  
Aggregate Level ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Total Budget ◽  
Intertemporal Allocation ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Intertemporal Choices

AbstractIntertemporal choices are affected by both discount rate and utility curvature. We investigate how the two aspects of time preference are affected by the size of the total budget using an intertemporal allocation task. At the aggregate level as well as at the individual level, we find magnitude effects both on the discount rate and on intertemporal substitutability (i.e., utility curvature). Individuals are more patient when dealing with larger budgets and also regard larger budgets to be more fungible. The latter effect suggests that the degree of asset integration is increasing in the stake.

Reconciling Individual and Aggregate Evidence Concerning Partisan Stability: Applying Time-Series Models to Panel Survey Data

2002 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald P. Green ◽  
David H. Yoon
Keyword(s):  
Time Series ◽  
Party Identification ◽  
Data Generation ◽  
Aggregate Level ◽  
Panel Surveys ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Empirical Regularities ◽  
Integrated Time Series ◽  
Using Data ◽  
The Individual

Party identification has been studied extensively using both individual- and aggregate-level data. This paper attempts to formulate a statistical model that can account for the range of empirical generalizations that have emerged from aggregate time series and panel surveys. Using Monte Carlo simulation, we show that only certain types of data generation processes can account for these empirical regularities. Deciding which of the remaining types best explains the data means investigating the ways in which individual-level partisanship behaves over time. Partisanship at the aggregate-level tends to be highly autocorrelated, reequilibrating slowly in the wake of each perturbation. Working downward from the analysis of aggregate data, previous researchers argued that aggregate partisanship is fractionally integrated and contended that dynamics at the individual level are therefore heterogeneous. Using data from three panel surveys, we present the first direct assessment of individual-level dynamics. We also investigate the hypothesis that these dynamics vary among individuals, a claim that motivates much recent work on fractionally integrated time series. The model that best explains the observed characteristics of party identification is one in which individuals respond in similar ways to external shocks, reequilibrate rapidly thereafter, and seldom change their equilibrium level of partisan attachment.

scholarly journals Are Danes’ Immigration Policy Preferences Based on Accurate Stereotypes?

Societies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 29
Author(s):  
Emil O. W. Kirkegaard ◽  
Noah Carl ◽  
Julius D. Bjerrekær
Keyword(s):  
Quality Control ◽  
Immigration Policy ◽  
Strong Correlation ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Policy Preferences ◽  
Aggregate Level ◽  
Danish Population ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Ministry Of Finance ◽  
The Individual

Stereotypes about 32 country-of-origin groups were measured using an online survey of the adult, non-elderly Danish population (n = 476 after quality control). Participants were asked to estimate each group’s net fiscal contribution in Denmark. These estimates were then compared to the actual net fiscal contributions for the 32 groups, taken from a report by the Danish Ministry of Finance. Stereotypes were found to be highly accurate, both at the aggregate level (r = 0.81) and at the individual level (median r = 0.62). Interestingly, participants over- rather than underestimated the net fiscal contributions of groups from countries with a higher percentage of Muslims. Indeed, this was true at both the aggregate and individual levels (r = −0.25 and median r = −0.49, respectively). Participants were also asked to say how many immigrants from each group should be admitted to Denmark. There was a very strong correlation between participants’ aggregate immigration policy preferences and their estimates of the 32 groups’ fiscal contributions (r = 0.98), suggesting that their preferences partly reflect accurate stereotypes. Most of the analyses were pre-registered.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document