Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-7cvxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T10:56:09.941Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Measuring State Public Opinion with the Senate National Election Study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 January 2021

Abstract

The surveys of Senate races from 1988 to 1992 conducted by the American National Election Study include a number of issue questions that can be aggregated to measure state public opinion. A simple-to-compute coefficient is used to judge the aggregated reliability of these measures. A comparison of these state public opinion measures on specific issues to more general indicators, such as state ideology and partisanship, demonstrates their usefulness in obtaining a richer depiction of public preferences for studies of state politics.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The American Political Science Association, 2001

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abramowitz, Alan I., and Saunders, Kyle L. 1998. “Ideological Realignment in the U.S. Electorate.” Journal of Politics 60: 634652.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berry, William D., Ringquist, Evan J., Fording, Richard C., and Hanson, Russell L. 1998. “Measuring Citizen and Government Ideology in the American Sates, 1960-93.” American Journal of Political Science 42: 327348.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Elazar, Daniel J. 1966. American Federalism: A View from the States. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell.Google Scholar
Grogan, Colleen M. 1994. “Political-Economic Factors Influencing State Medicaid Policy.” Political Research Quarterly 47: 589623.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Holbrook-Provow, Thomas M., and Poe, Stephen C. 1987. “Measuring State Political Ideology.” American Politics Quarterly 15: 399416.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jones, Bradford S., and Norrander, Barbara. 1996. “The Reliability of Aggregated Public Opinion Measures.” American Journal of Political Science 40: 295309.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miller, Warren E., Kinder, Donald R., Rosenstone, Steven J., and the National Election Studies. 1999. American National Election Study: Pooled Senate Election Study, 1988, 1990, 1992 (Computer file). 3rd version. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan, Center for Political Studies [producer], 1999. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor].Google Scholar
Norrander, Barbara. 1989. “Explaining Cross-State Variation in Independents.” American Journal of Political Science 33: 516536.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Norrander, Barbara, and Wilcox, Clyde. 1999. “Public Opinion and Policymaking in the States: The Case of Post-Roe Abortion Policy.” Policy Studies Journal 27: 707722.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
O'Brien, Robert M. 1990. “Estimating the Reliability of Aggregate-Level Variables Based on Individual-Level Characteristics.” Sociological Methods and Research 18: 473504.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sharkansky, Ira. 1969. “The Utility of Elazar's Political Culture.” Polity 2: 6683.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, Tom W. 1982. “House Effects and the Reproducibility of Survey Measurements: A Comparison of the 1980 GSS and the 1980 American National Election Study.” Public Opinion Quarterly 46: 5468.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Taggart, William A., and Winn, Russell G. 1993. “Imprisonment in the American States.” Social Science Quarterly 74: 736749.Google Scholar
U.S. Bureau of the Census. 1996. Statistical Abstract of the United States, 1996. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office.Google Scholar
Weber, Ronald E., Hopkins, Anne H., Mezey, Michael L., and Munger, Frank J. 1972-73. “Computer Simulation of State Electorates.” Public Opinion Quarterly 36: 549565.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wright, Gerald C. Jr., Erikson, Robert S., and McIver, John P. 1985. “Measuring State Partisanship and Ideology with Survey Data.” Journal of Politics 47: 469489.CrossRefGoogle Scholar