1,720,987 research outputs found
Public participation in the German energy transformation: Examining empirically relevant factors of participation decisions
No full textPublic participation is often part of planning and decision-making processes relating to the German energytransformation (Energiewende). Factors influencing the active involvement of individuals have not been fullyinvestigated, although these factors may impact the outcome of participatory decision making. However, a fewconcepts are discussed relating to what kind of people participate in governance processes: political efficacy,place attachment, value orientation, and sociodemographic characteristics. We further assumed that the aspectsof attitudes toward renewable energy technologies, general knowledge about environment and energy, specificknowledge about electricity-generating technologies, personality strength, and living situation might influencepeople’s participation in planning and decision making related to energy issues. In this study, we examine therelevance of these concepts based on a survey for which (n=) 2400 respondents were recruited from an accesspanel to build up a quota sample on the three crossed characteristics: gender, age, and school education. Many ofthe respondents are aware of participation options but very few become actively engaged in participation processes.The multivariate analyses conducted showed that attitudes towards renewable energy technologies, valueorientation towards nature, political efficacy, personality strength, and individuals’ specific knowledge have astrong influence on whether someone becomes actively involved or not
How others' earnings influence our justice perceptions: studying the effects of income distribution and social position on reflexive justice evaluations among German employees
Full text linkSchneider S, Shamon H. How others' earnings influence our justice perceptions: studying the effects of income distribution and social position on reflexive justice evaluations among German employees. SFB 882 Working Paper Series. Vol 44. Bielefeld: DFG Research Center (SFB) 882 From Heterogeneities to Inequalities; 2015.While it is generally agreed that individuals compare themselves with others when assessing their earnings, little is known about the duality/interaction of contextual and individual forces with regard to justice evaluations. This study combines a proposition of judgment theory, i.e. range-frequency theory, with sociological justice theories and examines, in an organizational setting, whether employees base their justice evaluation of their own earnings on the income distribution they are surrounded by and/or their personal ranking within the income hierarchy. It argues that both the range of incomes in the organization as well as the person’s ranking influence how a person evaluates their income. The empirical analysis is based on 636 full-time and part-time employees in Germany who participated in a factorial survey that was integrated into a larger representative survey study of German employees. Respondents were asked to evaluate their income after they were given information on the incomes of others and their personal position/rank in the income hierarchy. In line with the theoretical reasoning, this paper finds that employees base their justice evaluations on both range and rank. It finds the effects to be equally strong and both effects add to each other in terms of absolute values
Promises and problems of factoral surveys and choice experiments - Methodological challenges and substantive conclusions for survey research
No full textCareless Responding - Rates and Reactions in a Quota Sample and a Voluntary Opt-in Sample
No full textIn recent years, internet based surveys have become a popular survey mode in social science. However, this survey mode is prone to careless responding (CR), the tendency to respond to a survey item by ignoring the item’s content. CR might lead to incorrect factor structures as well as to attenuate associations between survey items such that type II errors may occur. Therefore, several detection methods for CR have been proposed and examined. However, the issue of CR has mainly been discussed among psychologists concerned about serious threats to data quality, when questionnaires are internet based and when the sample consists of college students who participate in exchange for a course credit or for remuneration. In this paper, we examine rates of CR based on two different samples utilizing different detection methods. First, we use a quota sample (with remuneration), a central data source for internet based surveys in sociological and political research. Second, we include a voluntary opt-in panel (without remuneration). The experimental setting in both samples allows us examining respondents’ reactions to the detection methods
Biased processing and opinion polarization: Experimental refinement of argument communication theory in the context of the energy debate
No full textWe combine empirical experimental research on biased argument processing with a computational theory of group deliberation to overcome the micro–macro problem of sociology and to clarify the role of biased processing in debates around energy. We integrate biased processing into the framework of argument communication theory in which agents exchange arguments about a certain topic and adapt opinions accordingly. Our derived mathematical model fits significantly better to the experimentally observed attitude changes than the neutral argument processing assumption made in previous models. Our approach provides new insight into the relationship between biased processing and opinion polarization. Our analysis reveals a sharp qualitative transition from attitude moderation to polarization at the individual level. At the collective level, we find that weak biased processing significantly accelerates group decision processes, whereas strong biased processing leads to a meta-stable conflictual state of bi-polarization that becomes persistent as the bias increases
Validating argument-based opinion dynamics with survey experiments
Full text linkThe empirical validation of models remains one of the most important
challenges in opinion dynamics. In this contribution, we report on recent
developments on combining data from survey experiments with computational
models of opinion formation. We extend previous work on the empirical
assessment of an argument-based model for opinion dynamics in which biased
processing is the principle mechanism. While previous work (Banisch & Shamon,
in press) has focused on calibrating the micro mechanism with experimental data
on argument-induced opinion change, this paper concentrates on the macro level
using the empirical data gathered in the survey experiment. For this purpose,
the argument model is extended by an external source of balanced information
which allows to control for the impact of peer influence processes relative to
other noisy processes. We show that surveyed opinion distributions are matched
with a high level of accuracy in a specific region in the parameter space,
indicating an equal impact of social influence and external noise. More
importantly, the estimated strength of biased processing given the macro data
is compatible with those values that achieve high likelihood at the micro
level. The main contribution of the paper is hence to show that the extended
argument-based model provides a solid bridge from the micro processes of
argument-induced attitude change to macro level opinion distributions. Beyond
that, we review the development of argument-based models and present a new
method for the automated classification of model outcomes.Comment: Keywords: opinion dynamics, validation, empirical confirmation,
survey experiments, parameter estimation, argument communication theory,
computational social scienc
Sociotechnical Imaginaries of Locals on the Transformation in the German Mining Area "Rheinisches Revier"
No full textThe German mining region “Rheinisches Revier” is undergoing significant economic and social transformations. This transformation is driven by Germany's effort to achieve climate neutrality by 2045 through the phase-out of lignite. Our qualitative study takes a sociological perspective on this transformation and contributes to answering the question of how the structural change in the German mining region “Rheinisches Revier” is perceived by inhabitants of the “Rheinisches Revier” and which sociotechnical imaginaries its people have for the region's future. In addition, we examine the public's perception of various possible transformation paths by analysing which aspects are desirable or not desirable for the residents. We aim for a more in-depth understanding of the residents' ideas by taking a qualitative approach. Therefore, we interview residents of the region individually, considering various stakeholder groups. The data collection is conducted through individual interviews with the inhabitants. The interviews are analyzed using content analysis to identify patterns and themes in the data. The results of the study contribute to understand complex social processes regarding the German mining region “Rheinisches Revier” and indicate implications for political and economic decisionmakers
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
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