Suchergebnisse

Demographic and socio-economic variables are, as a rule, the independent variables in survey research,. For a comparison of the attitudes and behaviour of the respondents across different surveys, a standardisation of these independent variables is essential. In Germany, a working group established by the umbrella organisations of the groups that conduct surveys - academic social researchers, commercial market and social researchers, and the Federal Statistical Office - has developed and formulated such an instrument, which is known as the "Demographic Standards". The individual variables of the current edition (2010) are described here. In the case of cross-cultural and cross-national comparisons, however, standardisation is not possible. Here, the only way to establish comparability is to harmonise the individual variables across the cultures or countries participating in the survey. The various harmonisation techniques and the rules to be observed when applying them are described.

OBJECTIVES: Given high prevalence of smoking and secondhand smoke exposure in Armenia and Georgia and quicker implementation of tobacco legislation in Georgia versus Armenia, we examined correlates of having no/partial versus complete smoke-free home (SFH) restrictions across countries, particularly smoking characteristics, risk perceptions, social influences and public smoking restrictions. DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey study design. SETTING: 28 communities in Armenia and Georgia surveyed in 2018. PARTICIPANTS: 1456 adults ages 18–64 in Armenia (n=705) and Georgia (n=751). MEASUREMENTS: We used binary logistic regression to examine aforementioned correlates of no/partial versus complete SFH among non-smokers and smokers in Armenia and Georgia, respectively. RESULTS: Participants were an average age of 43.35, 60.5% women and 27.3% smokers. In Armenia, among non-smokers, having no/partial SFHs correlated with being men (OR=2.63, p=0.001) and having more friend smokers (OR=1.23, p=0.002); among smokers, having no/partial SFHs correlated with being unmarried (OR=10.00, p=0.001), lower quitting importance (OR=0.82, p=0.010) and less favourable smoking attitudes among friends/family/public (OR=0.48, p=0.034). In Georgia, among non-smokers, having no/partial SFHs correlated with older age (OR=1.04, p=0.002), being men (OR=5.56, p<0.001), lower SHS risk perception (OR=0.43, p<0.001), more friend smokers (OR=1.49, p=0.002) and fewer workplace (indoor) restrictions (OR=0.51, p=0.026); among smokers, having no/partial SFHs correlated with being men (OR=50.00, p<0.001), without children (OR=5.88, p<0.001), daily smoking (OR=4.30, p=0.050), lower quitting confidence (OR=0.81, p=0.004), more friend smokers (OR=1.62, p=0.038) and fewer community restrictions (OR=0.68, p=0.026). CONCLUSIONS: Private settings continue to lack smoking restrictions in Armenia and Georgia. Findings highlight the importance of social influences and comprehensive tobacco legislation, particularly smoke-free policies, in changing ...

Many study designs in social science research rely on repeated measurements implying that the same respondents are asked the same (or nearly the same) questions at least twice. An assumption made by such study designs is that respondents second answer does not depend on their first answer. However, if respondents recall their initial answer and base their second answer on it memory effects may affect the survey outcome. In this study, I investigate respondents' recall ability and memory effects within the same survey and randomly assign respondents to a device type (PC or smartphone) and a response format (response scale or text field) for reporting their previous answer. While the results reveal no differences regarding device types, they reveal differences regarding response formats. Respondents' recall ability is higher when they are provided with the response scale again than when they are only provided with a text field (without displaying the response scale again). The same finding applies to the size of estimated memory effects. This study provides evidence that the size of memory effects may have been overestimated in previous studies.

"Panel surveys suffer from attrition. Most panel studies use propensity models or weighting class approaches to correct for non-random dropout. These models draw on variables measured in a previous wave or from paradata of the study. While it is plausible that they affect contactability and cooperativeness, panel studies usually cannot assess the impact of events between waves on attrition. The amount of change in the population could be seriously underestimated if such events had an effect on participation in subsequent waves. The panel study PASS is a novel dataset for labour market and poverty research. In PASS, survey data on (un)employment histories, income and education of participants are linked to corresponding data from respondents' administrative records. Thus, change can be observed for attritors as well as for continued participants. These data are used to show that change in household composition, employment status or receipt of benefits has an influence on contact and cooperation rates in the following wave. A large part of the effect is due to lower contactability of households who moved. Nevertheless, this effect can lead to biased estimates for the amount of change. After applying the survey's longitudinal weights this bias is reduced, but not entirely eliminated." (author's abstract)

Using data from the Current Population Survey and a new matched survey of employers and employees, this paper investigates error in the measurement of employer‐provided health insurance. The often‐used March CPS gives lower coverage estimates than the April/May CPS, which focuses on employer‐provided coverage. In addition, individuals who are in both the March CPS and April/May CPS often give inconsistent responses on their health insurance status, perhaps due to differences in the wording of the health insurance questions. A new survey shows that workers tend to report higher rates of coverage than do firms and that many individuals also disagree with their employers about their coverage. The differences in the firm and worker reports of coverage are uncorrelated with standard worker and firm characteristics, suggesting classical measurement error that does not bias the parameters of models explaining health coverage. When health insurance is used as an explanatory variable, however, measurement error results in significant bias toward zero.

"Valuable report based on the Ecuador Living Standard Measurement Survey (1994). Uses total consumption expenditures. Provides a baseline reference for future work. Contrast with INEC's basic needs survey (item #bi 97002637#)"--Handbook of Latin American Studies, v. 57

New indices measuring the quality of democracy constitute a significant innovation in comparative political science. They might, however, provide a biased perspective because they largely focus on macro-level criteria. Thus, the question is whether the measurement of the quality of democracy can be improved by complementing the evaluations of these indices with assessments based on individual-level survey data. Using data from 20 established democracies in the European Social Survey 2012 and the Democracy Barometer, we compare the understandings and evaluations of the quality of democracy underlying these two measurement approaches. We demonstrate that while the results coincide to a certain extent, individual-level data provide an important complementary perspective that adds to the validity of the measurement of the quality of democracy.

New indices measuring the quality of democracy constitute a significant innovation in comparative political science. They might, however, provide a biased perspective because they largely focus on macro-level criteria. Thus, the question is whether the measurement of the quality of democracy can be improved by complementing the evaluations of these indices with assessments based on individual-level survey data. Using data from 20 established democracies in the European Social Survey 2012 and the Democracy Barometer, we compare the understandings and evaluations of the quality of democracy underlying these two measurement approaches. We demonstrate that while the results coincide to a certain extent, individual-level data provide an important complementary perspective that adds to the validity of the measurement of the quality of democracy.

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to identify the drivers of personnel satisfaction towards performance information (PI) usage in the local public administration context.


Design/methodology/approach
– The study utilizes both quantitative and qualitative research approach. Data are gathered with a survey receiving 194 responses from the departments of six different municipalities that all belong to the group of largest municipalities in Finland. Regression and variance analysis, as well as analysis of open-ended comments are utilized.


Findings
– A key observation is that high maturity level of performance measurement or information systems do not guarantee personnel satisfaction. Three main perspectives are found to positively affect satisfaction: use of PI in strategic planning, inter-administrative management with PI and communication of measurement information.


Research limitations/implications
– Common limitations of survey studies apply. The quantitative data set could have been wider and it should be complemented with more qualitative data. Also the survey itself has limitations due to its generic nature.


Practical implications
– The results indicate that managerial purpose of measurement needs to be better clarified. Greatest need for development is found in utilizing PI in resource sharing and in the analysis of current situation supportive to strategic planning.


Originality/value
– The efficient use of performance measurement is a commonly acknowledged challenge. Even though PI usage has been increasingly studied, the focus has often been in separate managerial tasks. Wider approach towards performance measurement and management practices has gained less attention. This study is one of the first attempts to apply private sector originating performance measurement maturity discussion in the public sector context.

Purpose. The purpose of the research is to outline the strategies of desacralization of writers by means of merch, to determine the positive and negative aspects of the search for new meanings in the reproduction of cult figures. Theoretical basis. The article examines merch as a tool that encourages people to change sacred meanings and ideas about writers as bearers of the sacred for Ukrainians. The source base of the study is the works devoted to the problems of the sacred in philosophical thought, as well as the process of desacralization in art and literature. The peculiarities of the destruction of tendencies regarding the notions in the perception of writers as idols of the nation, the formation and emergence of new meanings regarding sacred figures are highlighted and described. The relevance of this study is due to active searches in business, propaganda, agitation for the use of literary practice, transformation and new contexts of literary idols. Originality. Until now, the change in the processes of sacralization and desacralization of writers by means of merch has not been considered as a reversal of worldview in culture, vectors of changes in the dominants of spirituality in the world picture. It turned out that the metacategory of the sacred has been studied by many scholars, both foreign and domestic, in recent years. The problems of the sacred are in the centre of attention of sociologists, philosophers, literary critics, and culturologists, but merch as a basis for the desacralization of man was not considered in publications in the field of mass communication theory. Scientists considered the worldview vectors of the sacred and desacralization as processes that are inherent not only in postmodernity, but also those that accompanied Ukrainian culture during previous periods. It is determined that the most noticeable manifestations of desacralization are the reproduction of the figure of Kobzar, moreover, in quite unusual and even provocative images of him. However, the majority of Ukrainians positively perceive the updated images of the prophets of the Ukrainian nation and talk about the permanence of their worldview, despite the change and reinterpretation of many years of later development. Conclusions. Conscious desacralization of literary images is gradually gaining momentum. We observe a tendency to positive perception of merch with the figures of T. Shevchenko, I. Franko, H. Skovoroda, Lesia Ukrainka in a new interpretation: during the war, on the barricades – wherever the struggle for Ukrainian statehood is taking place. From the results of the survey it becomes clear that stereotypical perceptions of writers need to be changed, but only if it is an organic fusion with value imperatives, only emphasizes and affirms the spiritual greatness of Man and serves the growth of Ukrainian society and every Ukrainian.

Various indices designed to measure corruption across nations are scrutinized to determine the problems of assessing corruption & the strengths & weaknesses of such measurements. It is contended that producing quality measurements of corruption is problematized by definitions of corruption & the existence of different notions of validity, reliability, & precision. Several first-generation measures of corruption are evaluated, especially Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index, arguing that such indices do not necessarily provide sufficiently valid or precise measures of corruption in nations with the worst corruption problems. Various second-generation indices of corruption, particularly the World Bank Instit's 1999 Business Environment & Enterprise Performance Survey, are analyzed to determine if this problem has been rectified. The need to overcome the perception of theory & practice as separate issues in contemporary corruption research is stressed. 1 Table, 27 References. J. W. Parker

Through a survey of nonprofit stakeholders, this research builds on previous studies that have explored the construct of stewardship and advances a new measurement model. Findings provide a new conceptualization of the construct with five dimensions, rather than the previously theorized four-dimension solution. Theoretical, measurement, and practical applications are discussed.

Berufsangaben werden in fast allen Umfragen im Kontext der demographischen Variablen erfragt. Das vorliegende Papier soll Hilfestellung bei der Codierung dieser Angaben bieten. In den Sozialwissenschaften stehen zur Codierung von Berufen zwei standardisierte Kategorienschemata zur Verfügung: Während die Klassifikation der Berufe 2010 (KldB 2010) die konkreten Berufsbezeichnung codiert, wird im ISCO-08 die berufliche Tätigkeit erhoben. Das vorliegende Papier setzt sich zunächst mit dem Aufbau beider Schemata auseinander. Im Anschluss wird beschrieben, welche zusätzlichen Informationen beim Codieren von Berufen hinzugezogen werden sollten. Es folgt eine Vorstellung der einzelnen Codierverfahren - manuelles, halbautomatisches und automatisches Codieren wird ebenso wie die zugehörigen Softwareprogramme vorgestellt. Daran anschließend steht die Verwendung der codierten Berufsangaben in der Analyse im Fokus: Oft werden die Berufscodierungen zur Berechnung von Indizes des beruflichen Prestiges, des sozio-ökonomischen Status oder der Klassenzugehörigkeit verwendet, die die Grundlage für weitere Analysen darstellt. Die Skalen ISEI-08 (Skala zur Messung des sozioökomischen Status im internationalen Vergleich), SIPOS (Standardisierte berufliche Prestige-Skala) und ISEC (International Socio-Economic Classes) werden kurz beschrieben. Generell ist bei Berufscodierungen darauf zu achten, dass was erhoben wird und wie es codiert wird stark von der jeweiligen Forschungsfrage abhängt. Im letzten Teil des Papieres werden schließlich Alternativen zur aufwändigen Berufskodierung nach KldB und ISCO diskutiert.

This paper aims to identify the presence of energy poverty in Ecuador. Three indicators proposed by the European Union Energy Poverty Observatory (EPOV) are used to construct a multidimensional energy poverty index (MEPI) based on measure conditions associated with energy poverty, in areas related to delays in the payment of electricity bills, disproportionate expenses, hidden energy poverty, and the 10% Boardman (1991) rule. The information comes from the Ecuatorian Life Conditions Survey. The results show that energy poverty is present in Ecuadorian households, at the national level, and just as these indicators have restrictions, advantages and disadvantages, which demand decisions about the choice of their use.