Institutt for samfunnsforskning - Vitenarkiv
Not a member yet
1021 research outputs found
Sort by
Support for electoral system reform among voters and politicians: Studying information effects through survey experiments
Get PDFDoes information about the consequences of proposals to change the Norwegian parliamentary electoral system influence voters’ and politicians’ attitudes towards the system? Is the willingness to accept change greater among voters/politicians who “lose” under the present electoral system? These questions are illuminated using empirical data from two identical survey experiments, with responses from both voters and politicians about 1) increased proportionality between parties (more seats for smaller parties) and 2) increased geographical proportionality (stronger representation for the more populous counties). The results show that being informed about the consequences of the proposals has a major effect on voters’ and politicians’ attitudes. This applies especially to the question of increased proportionality between parties, where feedback was particularly negative from respondents who were told that the proposal might weaken the larger parties’ representation and make it more difficult to establish viable governments. The responses to the question about increased proportionality between parties were also influenced by partisanship; politicians who belonged to or voters who voted for one of the smaller parties favour increased proportionality. We also find that there is limited support for the proposal to distribute parliamentary seats according to the number of inhabitants in the counties, and this support is further reduced when the respondents are informed that the measure will increase representation from the more populous parts of the country.publishedVersio
Combining Work and Pension in Norway: Gathering Information and Imagining the Future
Get PDFThe Norwegian pension system has provided unprecedented flexibility to combine work and pension drawing from the age of 62, and this has become a popular option. Using qualitative interviews with 28 older workers, we explore their information strategies and motivations. We find that many informants struggle to understand the various options and their consequences and use different strategies to shield themselves from insecurity: they downplay the issue or point to factors beyond their control. Two key motives for early pension take-up are the desire to secure the money for one’s family in the event of early death and to get the money while still vigorous. Informants typically imagine life after 80 as quiet and with fewer material demands. In conclusion, the analysis shows how adaptations to the flexible pension system are embedded in notions of ageing, institutional trust, and a newfound sense of ownership regarding one’s retirement savings.publishedVersio
Retirement anticipation - gendered patterns in a gender-equal society? a study of senior workers in Norway,
Get PDFpublishedVersio
Forskerne og offentligheten – om ytringsfrihet i akademia
Get PDFDen akademiske friheten gir vitenskapelig ansatte, formelt og via lov, en omfattende formell ytringsfrihet. Likevel kan det være trekk ved ulike forskningsområder, forskningsinstitusjoner, opinionsklima og informasjonslandsskap som kan begrense forskeres deling av kunnskap og forskningsresultater til en bredere offentlighet via mediene.
I denne rapporten ser vi nærmere på hvordan forskere, sammenlignet med befolkningen, vurderer forskeres rett til å ytre seg offentlig: Hvilke tema forskere legitimt skal kunne uttale seg om er stadig gjenstand for debatt, og her undersøker vi om akademia og befolkning setter grensene på samme sted. Videre undersøker vi hvordan forskere oppfatter opinionsklimaet og ytringsrommet generelt, før fokuset rettes mot forskeres konkrete erfaring med offentlig deltagelse og formidling av forskningsresultater i mediene: Hvor ofte formidler de, hvilke erfaringer har de, og hva legger begrensninger på formidlingen? Til slutt undersøkes forskeres erfaring med ubehagelige kommentarer eller trusler i etterkant av mediedeltagelse.
I tillegg til å undersøke forskernes erfaringer på tvers av fagområder, setter vi særlig fokus på erfaringer og formidlingslingspraksis blant forskere innen tre felt som ofte er omgitt av offentlig debatt: klimaforskning, kjønns- og likestillingsforskning og forskning knyttet til innvandring og integrering.publishedVersio
The Impact of Mental Health Problems in Adolescence on Educational Attainment
Get PDFThe aim of the study has been to examine the impact of diagnosed internalising and externalising behavioural problems on educational attainment. We used a fixed-effect model on rich individual longitudinal register data. The sample consisted of five full cohorts of adolescents (N=242,542). The analyses suggest that compared to their healthy peers, boys and girls with externalising problems have respectively 38 and 40 percentage points lower probability of completing upper secondary school. The comparable numbers for internalising problems are 29 percentage points for boys and 26 percentage points for girls. With regard to the likelihood of attending higher education, for those that completed secondary school, the results show a negative but much smaller impact of mental health disorders than the case was in the analysis of upper secondary school completion.acceptedVersionacceptedVersio
Mobilizing the Underrepresented: Electoral Systems and Gender Inequality in Political Participation
Get PDFTo study the political mobilization of underrepresented groups, this article examines the effect of electoral systems on gender equality in voting. Theoretically, I argue that replacing a plurality electoral system with proportional representation (PR) gives party elites greater incentives to mobilize women to vote in all but the most competitive districts under plurality rule. Yet, they need to tap into women's networks to succeed with such mobilizing efforts. Empirically, I isolate the causal effect of PR by studying an imposed shift from plurality to PR in Norwegian municipalities. Using a difference-in-differences design, I estimate that the move from plurality to PR substantially decreased gender inequality in voting. The effect is most pronounced in previously uncompetitive municipalities and where women's networks are present. This study thus demonstrates how the social environment conditions the effect of democratic institutions on the political participation of marginalized groups.publishedVersio
Promoting Diversity but Striving for Excellence: Opening the ‘Black Box’ of Academic Hiring
Get PDFpublishedVersio
Explaining the Varieties of Volunteering in Europe: A Capability Approach
Get PDFVolunteer rates vary greatly across Europe despite the voluntary sector’s common history and tradition. This contribution advances a theoretical explanation for the variation in volunteering across Europe—the capability approach—and tests this approach by adopting a two-step strategy for modeling contextual effects. This approach, referring to the concept of capability introduced by Sen (Choice, welfare and measurement, Oxford University Press, 1980/1982), is based on the claim that the demand and supply sides of the voluntary sector can be expected to vary according to collective and individual capabilities to engage in volunteering. To empirically test the approach, the study relied on two data sources—the 2015 European Union (EU) Survey on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC), including an ad hoc module on volunteering at the individual level, and the Quality of Government Institute and PEW Research Center macrolevel data sets—to operationalize economic, human, political, social, and religious contextual factors and assess their effects on individuals’ capability to volunteer. The results support the capability hypothesis at both levels. At the individual level, indicators of human, economic, and social resources have a positive effect on the likelihood of volunteering. At the contextual level, macro-structural indicators of economic, political, social, and religious contexts affect individuals’ ability to transform resources into functioning—that is, volunteering.publishedVersio