IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/qualqt/v52y2018i5d10.1007_s11135-017-0658-5.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Surveying individual political elites: a comparative three-country study

Author

Listed:
  • Stefaan Walgrave

    (Universiteit Antwerpen)

  • Jeroen K. Joly

    (Ghent University)

Abstract

This study examines and discusses survey strategies among political elites at different government levels in three countries; Belgium, Canada and Israel. More specifically, we discuss recruitment strategies that produce high response levels among hard to reach target populations in different political and cultural environments. Next, we also examine which political elites are most likely to engage in survey research and which ones are hardest to target. We find that (former) top elites (e.g. members of the executive, different types of leadership) are less likely to participate while regional politicians tend to be more likely to participate in this type of research. Finally, we analyze item non-response and find that the right mix of closed (survey) and open (interview-like) questions decreases item non-response. Moreover, after having established trust and rapport, respondents—even high profile elites—will provide answers to relatively personal and intrusive questions. While item non-response remains low in all three countries throughout the survey, there is a noticeable difference between Belgium and Canada on one hand, and Israel on the other, with markedly higher item non-response in the latter.

Suggested Citation

  • Stefaan Walgrave & Jeroen K. Joly, 2018. "Surveying individual political elites: a comparative three-country study," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 52(5), pages 2221-2237, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:qualqt:v:52:y:2018:i:5:d:10.1007_s11135-017-0658-5
    DOI: 10.1007/s11135-017-0658-5
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11135-017-0658-5
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11135-017-0658-5?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Regina Riphahn & Oliver Serfling, 2005. "Item non-response on income and wealth questions," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 30(2), pages 521-538, September.
    2. Joachim R. Frick & Markus M. Grabka, 2007. "Item Non-response and Imputation of Annual Labor Income in Panel Surveys from a Cross-National Perspective," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 736, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    3. Miller, Warren E. & Stokes, Donald E., 1963. "Constituency Influence in Congress," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 57(1), pages 45-56, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Matias López, 2023. "The effect of sampling mode on response rate and bias in elite surveys," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 57(2), pages 1303-1319, April.
    2. Barbara Vis & Sjoerd Stolwijk, 2021. "Conducting quantitative studies with the participation of political elites: best practices for designing the study and soliciting the participation of political elites," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 55(4), pages 1281-1317, August.
    3. Araceli Mateos & Margarita Corral, 2022. "Partial non-response in political elite studies: an approach to parliamentary elites in Latin America," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 56(6), pages 4089-4106, December.
    4. Jonas Tallberg & Soetkin Verhaegen, 2020. "The Legitimacy of International Institutions among Rising and Established Powers," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 11(S3), pages 115-126, October.
    5. Sciara, Gian-Claudia & Waxman, Andrew & Buchanan, Ross, 2024. "State legislator views on funding 21st century Transportation:Important problems, missed connections," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 206-218.
    6. Tom Delreux & Frauke Pipart, 2021. "Ego versus Alter: Internal and External Perceptions of the EU's Role in Global Environmental Negotiations," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(5), pages 1284-1302, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Joachim R. Frick & Kristina Krell, 2010. "Measuring Income in Household Panel Surveys for Germany: A Comparison of EU-SILC and SOEP," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 265, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    2. Christian Aßmann & Ariane Würbach & Solange Goßmann & Ferdinand Geissler & Anika Bela, 2017. "Nonparametric Multiple Imputation for Questionnaires with Individual Skip Patterns and Constraints: The Case of Income Imputation in the National Educational Panel Study," Sociological Methods & Research, , vol. 46(4), pages 864-897, November.
    3. Kerstin Bruckmeier & Katrin Hohmeyer & Stefan Schwarz, 2018. "Welfare receipt misreporting in survey data and its consequences for state dependence estimates: new insights from linked administrative and survey data," Journal for Labour Market Research, Springer;Institute for Employment Research/ Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), vol. 52(1), pages 1-21, December.
    4. Alan E. Wiseman, 2006. "A Theory of Partisan Support and Entry Deterrence in Electoral Competition," Journal of Theoretical Politics, , vol. 18(2), pages 123-158, April.
    5. Michael Fertig & Katja Görlitz, 2012. "Item Nonresponse in Wages: Testing for Biased Estimates in Wage Equations," Ruhr Economic Papers 0333, Rheinisch-Westfälisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Universität Dortmund, Universität Duisburg-Essen.
    6. Lothar Essig & Joachim K. Winter, 2009. "Item Non-Response to Financial Questions in Household Surveys: An Experimental Study of Interviewer and Mode Effects," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 30(Special I), pages 367-390, December.
    7. repec:zbw:rwirep:0333 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Christopher J Williams, 2016. "Issuing reasoned opinions: The effect of public attitudes towards the European Union on the usage of the 'Early Warning System'," European Union Politics, , vol. 17(3), pages 504-521, September.
    9. Joachim R. Frick & Markus M. Grabka & Eva M. Sierminska, 2007. "Representative Wealth Data for Germany from the German SOEP: The Impact of Methodological Decisions around Imputation and the Choice of the Aggregation Unit," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 3, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    10. Xiao Tang & Weiwei Chen & Tian Wu, 2018. "Do Authoritarian Governments Respond to Public Opinion on the Environment? Evidence from China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-15, February.
    11. Hai Zhong, 2010. "The impact of missing data in the estimation of concentration index: a potential source of bias," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 11(3), pages 255-266, June.
    12. Jensen, Nathan M. & Li, Quan & Rahman, Aminur, 2007. "Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard are sweeter : understanding corruption using cross-national firm-level surveys," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4413, The World Bank.
    13. Mattozzi, Andrea & Snowberg, Erik, 2018. "The right type of legislator: A theory of taxation and representation," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 54-65.
    14. Scott Crichlow, 2002. "Legislators' Personality Traits and Congressional Support for Free Trade," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 46(5), pages 693-711, October.
    15. Susanne Rässler & Regina T. Riphahn, 2006. "Survey Item Nonresponse and its Treatment," Springer Books, in: Olaf Hübler & Jachim Frohn (ed.), Modern Econometric Analysis, chapter 15, pages 215-230, Springer.
    16. Bernd Hayo & Edith Neuenkirch, 2018. "Survey on Germans’ Attitudes Towards and Knowledge of Monetary Policy Issues: Documentation of Survey Methodology and Descriptive Results," MAGKS Papers on Economics 201821, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics, Department of Economics (Volkswirtschaftliche Abteilung).
    17. GRABKA Markus & MARCUS Jan & SIERMINSKA Eva, 2013. "Wealth distribution within couples and financial decision making," LISER Working Paper Series 2013-02, Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LISER).
    18. Garrick L. Percival, 2010. "Ideology, Diversity, and Imprisonment: Considering the Influence of Local Politics on Racial and Ethnic Minority Incarceration Rates," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 91(4), pages 1063-1082, December.
    19. Frick, Joachim R. & Grabka, Markus M. & Groh-Samberg, Olaf, 2012. "Dealing With Incomplete Household Panel Data in Inequality Research," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 41(1), pages 89-123.
    20. Kim Quaile Hill & Tetsuya Matsubayashi, 2008. "Church Engagement, Religious Values, and Mass‐Elite Policy Agenda Agreement in Local Communities," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 52(3), pages 570-584, July.
    21. Sean Gailmard & Jeffery A. Jenkins, 2009. "Agency Problems, the 17th Amendment, and Representation in the Senate," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 53(2), pages 324-342, April.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:qualqt:v:52:y:2018:i:5:d:10.1007_s11135-017-0658-5. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.