Comment: The Dimensionality of Public Attitudes toward Government Spending

In "The Two Faces of Government Spending," Paul Goren applies a confirmatory factor model to data from the Center for Political Studies (CPS) National Election Studies (NES) to show that public attitudes toward policy spending are two dimensional. Here, I show that a unidimensional model,...

Ausführliche Beschreibung

Bibliographische Detailangaben
Veröffentlicht in:Political Research Quarterly. - University of Utah, 1993. - 61(2008), 1, Seite 158-161
1. Verfasser: Jacoby, William G. (VerfasserIn)
Format: Online-Aufsatz
Sprache:English
Veröffentlicht: 2008
Zugriff auf das übergeordnete Werk:Political Research Quarterly
Schlagworte:public attitudes toward government spending dimensionality model parsimony nonparametric item response theory Mokken scaling Political science Mathematics Behavioral sciences Applied sciences Education
Beschreibung
Zusammenfassung:In "The Two Faces of Government Spending," Paul Goren applies a confirmatory factor model to data from the Center for Political Studies (CPS) National Election Studies (NES) to show that public attitudes toward policy spending are two dimensional. Here, I show that a unidimensional model, derived from nonparametric item response theory, can be used to represent the same data. This latter model provides additional insights about specific spending responses and also produces results that are equivalent to the two-dimensional model with respect to the impact of racial stereotypes. Therefore, by scientific standards, the unidimensional representation of public opinion toward government spending seems to be preferable.
ISSN:10659129