POLSCI 4SS3
Winter 2024
(as of January 24)
Overview of course topic, goals, evaluation, expectations
We installed R and RStudio and explored them a bit
Cloud option always available if all else fails
Brief overview of MIDA framework
More details in the course website
Start the topic of public opinion
Representative surveys as the standard design
Takeaway: Complete random sampling is the gold standard but too hard to apply in realistic settings
Discussion: Getting surveys right
Lab: Sampling and descriptive inference
What are the elements of a research design?
What is a model?
What is an inquiry?
What is a data strategy?
What is an answer strategy?
Why are we doing this?
The study of self-reported attitudes and behaviors
Primarily among general public
Goal: Mapping self-reports to actual attitudes and behaviors
Asking the right questions
Asking the right people
(e.g. more that 1 hour)
(last week, last year)
(0-10, -5-5)
Stephenson et al (2021, p. 120)
: How units are selected for a study
Which units?
How will you reach them?
Sampling choices are consequential to how we craft answer strategies
Mode (in-person, lab, phone, mail, internet)
Sampling frame
Sample size
Sampling procedure
Oversampling
Simple: Coin flip
Complete: Exactly \(n\) of \(N\) sampled with same inclusion probability
Stratified: Sort in groups or strata, then sample
Cluster random: Sample whole groups of units
Stratified cluster: Take a guess!
Multi-stage: Sample clusters, then sample units
We conduct surveys because we want to understand public opinion
Challenge: Map self-reports to attitudes and behaviors
Ask the right questions (meaning, format, scales, context)
Ask the right people (mode, sampling)
Why so many choices?
Focus on: What to do when people lie in surveys?