Political scientists commonly use survey experiments–often conducted online–to study the attitudes of the mass public. In these experiments, compensation is usually small and researcher control is limited, which introduces the potential for low respondent effort and attention. This lack of engagement may result in noncompliance with experimental protocols, threatening causal inferences. However, in reviewing the literature, we find that despite the discipline’s general familiarity with experimental noncompliance, researchers rarely consider it when analyzing survey experiments. This oversight is important because it may unknowingly prevent researchers from estimating their causal quantities of greatest substantive interest. We urge scholars to address this particular manifestation of an otherwise familiar problem and suggest two strategies for formally measuring noncompliance in survey experiments: recording vignette screen time latency and repurposing manipulation checks. We demonstrate and discuss the substantive consequences of these recommendations by revisiting several published survey experiments.
The Energy and Commerce Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives developed the 21st Century Cures Act through a factfinding process that involved many different stakeholders in the biotechnology field. This effort can be viewed as an example of policy entrepreneurship in that the committee was trying to accelerate the development of new drugs and treatments. Some members of the committee were very active in this process, while others were less engaged. This article investigates what factors influenced individual legislators participation level in the initiative. We consider whether there is evidence that legislator characteristics and the types of groups actively involved in the initiative contributed to some important viewpoints going unaddressed. The evidence supports a contention in the literature that legislators approach biotechnology with a promotional focus as opposed to placing an emphasis on protecting the public from harm, which may have led to potentially problematic changes in areas such as informed consent.Acknowledgements: The authors wish to thank
Social isolation is prevalent among community dwelling older adults. Low income older adults living in subsidized housing may have increased risk for social isolation. To examine resident experiences and perspectives relating to their social connections during the COVID-19 pandemic, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 13 older adults (62+) who are English, Spanish, and Mandarin speaking recruited from a large non-profit affordable housing organization with communities in 22 states. Twelve housing communities were identified based on distributions of socio-demographic factors and prevalence of self-reported social isolation l in the housing community’s annual survey of residents in order to maximize site diversity. We used qualitative thematic analysis methods to examined participants’ views about their social connections before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as their personal and the housing community’s strategies to mitigate experiences of social isolation. Emerging themes include loss of common facilities and opportunities to socialize with other residents due to COVID-19 restrictions, and increased use of technology to stay connected.
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