Universität Mannheim: MAJOURNALS
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393 research outputs found
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Many Roads to Mediation: A Methodological and Empirical Comparison of Different Approaches to Statistical Mediation
Full text linkThis paper provides both a theoretical foundation and a simulation analysis of different statistical approaches to mediation. Regarding theory, a brief sketch of the fundamentals of mechanism-based explanations sets the argument of adhering to a consecutive order of predictor, mediator and outcome in mediation analysis. Having summarized the statistical fundamentals of different approaches to mediation analysis including simple mediation within OLS regressions, fixed-effects (FE) regressions, generalized-method-of-moments (GMM) regressions, causal mediation analysis without (CM) and with fixed effects (CMFE), and fixed-effects cross-lagged panel models (FE-CLPMs), I provide a simulation analysis with known but variable values for the intercorrelations between predictor, mediator and outcome in presence of unobserved heterogeneity and reverse causality. The aim of the simulation study is to examine differences in the relative performance of the aforementioned statistical approaches to mediation under different scenarios of causal order. Results reveal that OLS estimates are generally upwardly biased, FE and CMFE estimates by trend downwardly biased, and the ones of CM models (without FEs) can be biased in both directions. In contrast, coefficients and confidence intervals estimated by both GMM regressions and FE-CLPMs are most accurate – particularly if the structure of lags in the empirical models met the consecutive order set up in the data-generating process. Furthermore, FE-CLPMs are least sensitive to whether the first lag of the outcome variable is included as an additional predictor. All in all, analyses imply the importance that researchers most carefully translate their theoretical assumptions into an empirical model with the appropriate causal order
Analyzing the Causal Effect of Obesity on Socioeconomic Status – the Case for Using Difference-in-Differences Estimates in Addition to Fixed Effects Models
Full text linkRecent studies use Fixed Effects (FE) models to estimate the causal effect of obesity on socioeconomic status, the so-called obesity penalty. In this paper, I will illustrate the advantages of using a Difference in Differences (DID) approach as an alternative method of causal analysis. Combining the German National Health Interview and Examination Survey 1998 (GNHIES98) and the German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Adults 2008 (DEGS1) allowed for a panel analysis of 3934 respondents. The dependent variable is a socioeconomic status score that integrates level of education, occupation and household income. The binary treatment variable is abdominal obesity. To estimate the causal effect of the treatment, FE and DID approaches were used. Both the FE model and the DID estimate show no statistically significant causal effect of abdominal obesity on socioeconomic status for adults in Germany. However, both the respondents who became obese and those who stayed non-obese experience a rise in socioeconomic status over time. Nonetheless, the non-obese group had a more substantial increase in socioeconomic status than the obese group. Therefore, the obesity penalty does not necessarily have to be a decrease in socioeconomic status but could instead be a slowed growth or stagnation in status. The advantage of the DID approach is that the development in the control group is explicit. If obese individuals are more likely to have less favorable positive trends in socioeconomic status over time than other individuals, using DID estimates demonstrates the obesity penalty more effectively than using only FE models
How to Reduce Item Nonresponse in Face- to-Face Surveys? A Review and Evidence from the European Social Survey
Full text linkI review the literature on item nonresponse in surveys. Based on this review, I extend the satisficing model with respondents’ privacy concerns to incorporate all relevant aspects of the response process for item nonresponse. I review proposed strategies to reduce item nonresponse and test selected strategies. Results suggest that boosting respondents’ use of showcards and interviewing in the respondents’ primary language might be promising ways to reduce item nonresponse. Other people present during the interview have only a small association with the number of refusals. Matching the age and gender of respondents and interviewers appears not to be a worthwhile strategy
"Deutschland muss leben, und wenn wir sterben müssen.": Die Erinnerung an die Gefallenen im Kriegerdenkmal des Ratsgymnasiums Bielefeld
Full text linkDer Artikel erläutert den historischen Kontext und die fachdidaktisch-methodischen Potenziale des Bielefelder Kriegerdenkmals und seiner Erweiterungen. Anhand einer praxiserprobten Unterrichtseinheit werden exemplarisch Besonderheiten in der Thematisierung dieser schuleigenen Sachquelle reflektiert sowie Perspektiven im Umgang damit aufgezeigt. Während Lehrkräfte anderer Schulen daraus Ideen für eine Thematisierung der eigenen Denkmäler im Geschichtsunterricht und darüber hinaus ableitenmögen, können die Ergebnisse der Fachwissenschaft und -didaktik zum Verständnis der spezifischen Merkmale und Rezeption schuleigener Sachquellen durch die Lernenden beitragen
Migrant Health Inequalities or Unequal Measurements? Testing for Cross-cultural and Longitudinal Measurement Invariance of Subjective Physical and Mental Health
Full text linkBackground: The aim of the study is to investigate the longitudinal and cross-cultural measurement invariance of the Short-Form 12-Item Health Survey (SF-12) between Native Germans, European migrants and Non-European Migrants. Further, we test for differences in latent means dependent on invariance restrictions. Methods: We include 7 waves (2006-2018) from a representative panel study in Germany. We apply Multigroup Confirmatory Factor Analysis via a Structural Equation Modelling approach. Finally, we compare gender and age adjusted latent means between different settings of invariance assumptions. Results: The decrease in model fit measures by increasing equality constraints on the SF-12 factor structure of both physical and mental health between origin groups and across time is within common thresholds for good model fit. Latent means of both health factors differ, dependent on whether scalar invariance is set longitudinally and cross-culturally, or only longitudinally. Conclusion: We conclude acceptable longitudinal and cross-cultural measurement invariance of the SF-12 for a period of 12 years. Yet, ignoring multigroup scalar invariance constraints produces bias in the latent means of both health factors, where migrant health is shown to be overestimated, especially for Non-European migrants if indicator intercepts are not sufficiently constrained
Klappeffekte beim Diptychon von Melun: Jean Fouquets Doppeltafeln als Sandwichbild
Full text linkUm 1775 wurden die beiden Tafeln des Diptychons von Melun, eines der Hauptwerke des französischen Malers Jean Fouquet (15. Jh.), getrennt. Die linke Tafel wurde im Jahr 1896 von den Berliner Museen erworben, die rechte Tafel ist im Besitz des Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten in Antwerpen. Als im Jahr 2017 die Ausstellung Jean Fouquet. Das Diptychon von Melun die beiden Flügel in der Berliner Gemäldegalerie, achtzig Jahre, nachdem sie auf der Pariser Weltausstellung im Jahr 1937 zu sehen waren, wieder zusammen zeigte, war das Ereignis von großem medialem Interesse geprägt. Das Unmögliche sei möglich gemacht worden, die beiden Bildtafeln seien wieder vereint. Dieser Blickwinkel gab eine neue Lesart des gesamten Diptychons frei, dessen einzelne Tafeln nun gemeinsam gedeutet werden konnten. Die Autorin bietet in diesem Beitrag neben einer kunsthistorischen Einordnung ebenso eine Gesamtbetrachtung des Kunstwerks
Do citizens enjoy talking politics? : How political and social dispositions shape our attitudes towards political conversations.
Full text linkViele Ideen zur Verbesserung moderner Demokratien bauen auf die aktive Teilnahme von Bürger*innen in politischen Gesprächen miteinander. Aber wie gerne reden Menschen im Alltag überhaupt über Politik? In unserer Studie stellen wir fest, dass positive Einstellungen zu politischen Alltagsgesprächen tatsächlich nicht weit verbreitet sind. Die Gründe dafür sind eher sozialer als politischer Natur.Many ideas for improving modern democracy are built on the active engagement of citizens in political conversations with each other. In our study, however, we find that few people actually have a positive attitude towards political talk. In explaining this phenomenon, the social aspects outweigh the political ones
Die Leidenschaft des Rezensierens: Ansichten eines Doktoranden zum Rezensionswesen
Full text linkIn diesem Beitrag plädiert der Autor für das vermehrte Lesen und Verfassen von Rezensionen insbesondere während der wissenschaftlichen Ausbildung, hebt die Vorteile hervor, die es den Rezensent*innen bietet, und spiegelt seine persönliche Meinung zum (deutschsprachigen) Rezensionswesen
Augmenting Data Download Packages – Integrating Data Donations, Video Metadata, and the Multimodal Nature of Audio-visual Content
Full text linkThis research explores the potential of augmented Data Download Packages (aDDPs) as a novel approach to analyze digital trace data, using TikTok as a use case to demonstrate the broader applicability of the method. The study demonstrates how these data packages can be used in social science research to understand better user behavior, content consumption patterns, and the relationship between self-reported preferences and actual digital behavior. We introduce the concept of aDDPs, which extend the conventional Data Download Packages (DDPs) by augmenting the collected data with survey data, metadata, content data, and multimodal content embeddings, among other possibilities - rendering aDDPs an unprecedentedly rich data source for social science research. This work provides an overview and guidance on collecting, augmenting DDPs, and analyzing the resulting aDDPs. In a pilot study on 18 aDDPs, we use the combination of data components in aDDPs to facilitate research on user engagement behavior and content classification. We showcase the potential of the information breadth and depth that aDDPs depict by exploiting the combination of multimodal content embeddings, the users’ watch history, and survey data. To do so, we train and compare uni- and multimodal classifiers, classify the 18 aDDPs’ videos, and investigate the extent to which user engagement behavior impacts future content suggestions. Furthermore, we compare the users retrieved content with the users’ self-reported content consumption