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Maximilian Held edited this page Dec 19, 2014 · 1 revision

Progress Assessment Colloquium 1

Maximilian Held (MH), Olaf Groh-Samberg (OGS), Martin Nonhoff (MN) Bremen, 26.02.2014

Agenda

  1. Updated theory part (Dryzek & Habermas?)
  2. Updated hypotheses (Niemeyer)
  3. Updated methods (Q-Methodology)
  4. Follow-ups on previous comments by OGS, MN and others
  5. Learning phase, Economics panel
  6. Dissertation Committee, Formalities
  7. Test-run at Universität Hamburg (Sommersemester 2014)
  8. Time plan
  9. Next Steps

Updated Theory

  1. Good deliberation is: Metaconsensus (or well-structured ordinal preferences)
  2. Good deliberation is: Intersubjective Consensus (IC) or Intersubjective Rationality People who share the same beliefs and hold the same values express the same preferences and vice versa.

This is open also to factors of fundamental disagreements about the role of rationality in democratic decisions (as compared to, say, power, practice).

Updated Hypotheses

  1. As a result of deliberation, metaconsensus in beliefs, values and preferences will be higher. Factors will be fewer, and loadings higher.
  2. As a result of deliberation, intersubjective consensus will be higher. People who share the same beliefs about the economy, and hold the same allocative values will express the same tax preferences and vice versa.

Relationship to old Hypotheses

  1. Knowledge Gain will be expressed in greater metaconsensus (and, equivalently), the lower preferences for "misunderstood" items.
  2. "Tax misunderstandings" will appear as differences in factors and factor loadings before and after the deliberation.
  3. Universal validity will be expressed in metaconsensus.
  4. Attitude change are not part of Q-methodology.
  5. Meta assessment (autonomy, competence and meaningful choice) are not part of Q-methodology.
  6. Interaction effects (SES) are not part of Q-methodology.
  7. Fundamental disagreements about the role of economics, or generally, rationality in policy choice (as opposed to, say, power, practice) will show up as factors -- if the Q sample of statements is good enough.

Updated Methods

Pertinent literature

What is Q-Methodology?

"Factor analysis (...) is concerned with a population of n individuals each of whom has been measured in m tests or other instruments. The (...) correlations for these m variables are subjected to (...) factor analysis. But this technique (...) can also be inverted. We may concern ourselves with a population of N different tests (or other items), each of which is measured or scaled relatively, by M individuals." -- Stephenson (1936a: 334)

  • "factor analysis with the data table turned sideways"; persons are variables and traits/tests/statements/abilities are the sample or population.
  • looks at

Why Q-Methodology?

  • Works with small n (of people), but needs large n (of statements)
  • Blaug 1997 107: is one of the few empirical methods available for the systematic study of intersubjectivity that "has been informed by discursive and domination-free notions of opinion formation"
  • Watts & Stenner 2012: K157: "reveals the key viewpoints extant among a group of participants and allows those viewpoints to be understood holistically and to a high level of qualitative detail."
  • Watts & Stenner 2012: K501: "allows us to interpret the emergent factors, and hence to understand the nature of shared viewpoints we have discovered to a very high level of qualitative detail"

How Q-Methodology?

  • People will receive sets of statements (40-90) that they rank order to fit under a normal distribution.
  • The statements will be a structured sample (equivalent to "purposive sample"), drawn from my prior work.

Analysis

  1. Factor analysis (Q method) of individual q-sorts to investigate metaconsensus.
  2. Correlations between factor loadings of individuals to investigate intersubjective rationality (small n problem)
  3. Secondary factor analysis of factor array, with individual factors as "cases" and items as variables.
  4. Correlations between factor loadings and other gathered data (SES, etc.) (small n problem)

Follow-Ups

  1. Learning phase will be vetted, but can I do the instruction? (PCT is in the background)
  2. OGS 2013-11: Develop hypotheses further (done?)
  3. OGS 2013-11 / Proposal feedback: Pick up the participants, define a "topic"! (sovereign debt crisis?)
  4. OGS: what if people don't consider this relevant, are politically disinterested or apathetic?
  5. Proposal feedback: Define sample! (q methodology)
  6. Franziska Deutsch 2013-10: What if between-sample variance is too large to show a significant treatment effect? (q methodology)
  7. MN: Deliberative democracy is not a method (but?)
  8. MN: Do not discuss/cover political psychology (out!)
  9. MN: It's not clear why one would emphasize "epistocracy", reason over interest, power, (example: corporate taxation)
  10. MN: Habermas deliberation is about norms -- not policies. (But policies need to be justifiable, and that's what this design is after)

Economics Panel

(For vetting the material, and, maybe, Q&A)

  1. ! Dennis A.V. Dittrich (behavioral economics, libertarian?)
  2. ! Stephan Traub (welfare state, mainstream)
  3. ? Philip Manow (political economy)
  4. ! Wolfram Elsner (Bremen) (institutional/evolutionary economics, left-of-center, heterodox)
  5. ! Karlhans Sauernheimer (Mainz, emeritus) (trade, welfare economics, right-of-center)
  6. ? Frank Goetzke (U Louisville) (game theory, growth, taxation)

Dissertation Committee

  1. Martin Nonhoff (BIGSSS, Universität Bremen)
  2. Olaf Groh-Samberg (BIGSSS, Universität Bremen)
  3. Claus Offe (Hertie School of Governance)
  4. ? Edward J. McCaffery (University of Southern California): Taxation
  5. ? Dennis A.V. Dittrich (BIGSSS, Universität Bremen): Economics
  6. ? Christopher Cohrs (BIGSSS, Universität Bremen): Q-Methodology
  7. ? Simon Niemeyer (Australian National University / Uppsala): Intersubjective Rationality, Meta-Consensus

Notes

an welche diskurse knüpfe ich an; wo geht es weiter?

Schumpermas are Max Helds drafts on taxation and democracy, including his dissertation at BIGSSS.

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