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Religion and Presidential Politics in Florida: A List Experiment Stephen C. Craig James G. Kane Kenneth D. Wald Published in Social Science Quarterly 85 (June, 2004), 281- 293.
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Occasion for Research: August 8, 2000: Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-Connecticut) Becomes First Jewish Nominee for National Office by a Major Party Other Comparable Firsts: Al Smith – 1928 John Kennedy – 1960 Geraldine Ferraro - 1984
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Gallup Poll: “If your party nominated a generally well- qualified person for president who happened to be [religion/race/gender], would you vote for that person?”
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Reason for Skepticism Prior research suggests that abstract sentiments in favor of intergroup harmony often mask antipathy or reluctance to grant benefits to specific minorities.
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Reasons for Doubting Sincerity of Answers to Gallup-Type Questions: Social Desirability- often prompts survey respondents to disguise negative feelings toward members of other races lest they be perceived negatively by interviewers
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Research Question: Is the expressed willingness of Americans to consider Jewish candidates based on their individual merits a genuine belief likely to be backed by action – or an artifact of social desirability?
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Measurement: The List Experiment Adapted from Studies of Racial Attitudes (Kuklinski, Sniderman, Carmines Etc.) Representative Sample Randomly Divided into Equivalent Half-Samples
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Question: “Now I’m going to read you four (five) things that sometimes make people angry or upset. After I read all four statements, just tell me how many of them upset you. I don’t want to know which ones, just how many.”
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Baseline Group: “One: the way gasoline prices keep going up.” “Two: professional athletes getting million- plus salaries.” “Three: requiring seat belts be used when driving.” “Four: large corporations polluting the environment.”
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Test Group: Study 1: Likely Voters (Florida), October 2000, N=606 “Five: a Jewish candidate running for vice president.” Study 2: Registered Voters (Florida), May/June 2002, N=601 “Five: a Jewish candidate running for president.”
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Estimating Percentage of Respondents Who Are Angry Or Upset at the Idea of a Jewish Candidate for President or Vice President: 1.Calculate Mean Number of Anger- Generating Statements for Both Baseline and Test Conditions 2.Subtract the Former from the Latter 3.Multiply by 100 Example: 2.71 mean for test group minus 2.44 percent for baseline=0.27 x 100 =27 percent angry or upset
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Pros and Cons of the Method Advantage: Social Desirability Element Removed by Disguising Intent Disadvantage: Can Only Estimate Aggregate Level Of Negative Group Affect, No Analysis of Individual Respondents Possible
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Group Differences Greater Negative Affect Expected Among: Socially Marginal (Less Educated, Poorer, Older, Less Urban) Evangelical Protestants Men Republicans Conservatives
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Conclusion: Negative affect for Jewish candidates in not widespread. It does exist however, and could be decisive in a close race.
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