The Autocratic Trust Bias: Politically Sensitive Survey Items and Self-censorship
| dc.contributor.author | Tannenberg, Marcus | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2017-06-05T10:49:29Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2017-06-05T10:49:29Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2017 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/2077/52479 | |
| dc.description.abstract | Because of the perceived risk of repression some survey questions are likely sensitive in more autocratic countries while less so in more democratic countries. Yet, survey data on potentially sensitive topics are frequently used in comparative research despite concerns about comparability. In a novel approach to test the comparability of politically sensitive questions I employ a multilevel-analysis with more than 80 000 respondents in 36 African countries to test for systematic bias when the survey respondents believe (fear) that the government has commissioned the survey, as opposed to an independent research institute. The findings indicate that fear of the government induces a substantial and significant bias on questions regarding the citizen-state relationship in more autocratic countries, but not in more democratic countries. This has practical implications for the comparative use of survey data. | sv |
| dc.description.sponsorship | I am grateful to Staffan I. Lindberg, Ellen Lust, Beth Simmons, Anja Neundorf, Mattias Agerberg and participants of the 2017 V-Dem Research Conference for valuable comments and suggestions. This research project was supported by Riksbankens Jubileumsfond, Grant M13-0559:1, PI: Staffan I. Lindberg, V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg, Sweden; by Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation to Wallenberg Academy Fellow Staffan I. Lindberg, Grant 2013.0166, V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg, Sweden; by European Research Council, Grant 724191, PI: Staffan I. Lindberg, V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg, Sweden; by the Swedish Research Council, Grant 439-2014-38, PI: Pam Fredman, Vice-Chancellor, University of Gothenburg, Sweden; as well as by internal grants from the Vice-Chancellor’s office, the Dean of the College of Social Sciences, and the Department of Political Science at University of Gothenburg. We performed simulations and other computational tasks using resources provided by the Swedish National Infrastructure for Computing (SNIC) at the National Supercomputer Center in Sweden, SNIC 2016/1-382 and 2017/1-68. We specifically acknowledge the assistance of In-Saeng Suh at CRC and Johan Raber at SNIC in facilitating our use of their respective systems. | sv |
| dc.language.iso | eng | sv |
| dc.relation.ispartofseries | Working Papers | sv |
| dc.relation.ispartofseries | 2017:49 | sv |
| dc.title | The Autocratic Trust Bias: Politically Sensitive Survey Items and Self-censorship | sv |
| dc.type | Text | sv |
| dc.contributor.organization | V-Dem Institute | sv |