Again the University
In 1999 I had too many activities. First of all we were preparing the coding for the meta-analysis of the MTMM experiments. With some people I analysed the Russian panel data. I was also invited to participate in the methodology group to prepare the European Social Survey. Last but not least the faculty had decided without any discussion with me to close the methodology department and to spread the members of the department over the different sub-faculties. That meant that I had to choose in which sub-faculty I wanted to work, but it implied that I would have to teach other courses.
Teaching first year Media-students
I chose Communication Sciences (CS) because this was the most research oriented sub-faculty.
This sub-faculty needed more teachers because it had increased the most of all sub-faculties. They needed especially new teachers for methodology in the first year because they had many new students and many old students who had not passed the first methodology exam for media research students. It turned out that there were 600 students for the coming course 1999/2000.
I chose Communication Sciences (CS) because this was the most research oriented sub-faculty.
This sub-faculty needed more teachers because it had increased the most of all sub-faculties. They needed especially new teachers for methodology in the first year because they had many new students and many old students who had not passed the first methodology exam for media research students. It turned out that there were 600 students for the coming course 1999/2000.
I prepared, with the help of Chris Aalberts, my first course on methodology with videos for a large audience. The videos adressed different topics but started with arguments of the famous linguist Chomsky about the biased opinions of the press. He mentioned that the press reported about atrocities in Cambodia while they did not mention the same atrocities committed in Indonesian East Timor. I also had a video of a debate between Chomsky and a Dutch politician about this issue.
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The nice thing of these videos was that Chomsky was right in this case, but the Dutch politician was also right, because Chomsky generalized from just one case study to a general statement. This seems to me a nice lesson for media students to start with.
Another topic in the course was an experiment with the so called “Deliberative poll”, a new form of decision making using samples of the population in debates. The experiment took place in London where the later premier Blair played an important role and Roger Jowell did the research. This was also a nice topic for students of communication. The preparation of these videos and the presentation took a lot of time. I enjoyed the work because it was something new, but it was also at the expense of my research.
Another topic in the course was an experiment with the so called “Deliberative poll”, a new form of decision making using samples of the population in debates. The experiment took place in London where the later premier Blair played an important role and Roger Jowell did the research. This was also a nice topic for students of communication. The preparation of these videos and the presentation took a lot of time. I enjoyed the work because it was something new, but it was also at the expense of my research.
Analysis of the Russian panel data 1993 - 1998
For the analysis of the data of the Russian panel study I had found the cooperation of two very good students. William van der Veld had detected in the Russian panel study that the correlations of the same measures of life satisfaction through time were very low This was even true within a survey, asking the same questions at the beginning and the end. Therefore, based on ideas from the conference on public opinion research we discussed a new model of responses in opinion research.
With a master student I was looking at the satisfaction of Russians with their marriage on the basis of the same panel data. She did the research so well that I had enough faith in her to substitute me in a meeting with researchers of different universities and to present our work there.
For the analysis of the data of the Russian panel study I had found the cooperation of two very good students. William van der Veld had detected in the Russian panel study that the correlations of the same measures of life satisfaction through time were very low This was even true within a survey, asking the same questions at the beginning and the end. Therefore, based on ideas from the conference on public opinion research we discussed a new model of responses in opinion research.
With a master student I was looking at the satisfaction of Russians with their marriage on the basis of the same panel data. She did the research so well that I had enough faith in her to substitute me in a meeting with researchers of different universities and to present our work there.
The coding of the MTMM questions
With three master students I had done before the MTMM analysis of the MTMM experiments. Now they were involved in the coding of the questions in preparation of the Meta-analysis across experiments. The coding scheme was developed by Irmtraud and me on the basis of the previously performed meta-analyses and some new ideas. The purpose of this activity was to make a program to predict the quality of survey questions, because I was convinced that we never would be able to study the quality of all questions which were relevant in survey research. On the other hand, one couldn´t trust analyses of survey data without correction for measurement errors. We hoped that our meta-analysis would provide good predictions of the quality and the errors in the study of old and new questions so that correction for measurement errors would be possible.
With three master students I had done before the MTMM analysis of the MTMM experiments. Now they were involved in the coding of the questions in preparation of the Meta-analysis across experiments. The coding scheme was developed by Irmtraud and me on the basis of the previously performed meta-analyses and some new ideas. The purpose of this activity was to make a program to predict the quality of survey questions, because I was convinced that we never would be able to study the quality of all questions which were relevant in survey research. On the other hand, one couldn´t trust analyses of survey data without correction for measurement errors. We hoped that our meta-analysis would provide good predictions of the quality and the errors in the study of old and new questions so that correction for measurement errors would be possible.
The Methodology group for the European Social Survey
In 1999 I got an invitation to join the methodology group which would prepare the design of the European Social Survey (ESS). The ESS was an initiative of Max Kaase and some other researchers to collect data about the development of opinions in Europe on a scientific basis and not via commercial research organizations. Although I had my doubts about these activities given my experience with the Telepanel and the efficiency of commercial research organizations, I was interested in this new development because it required the study of the quality and comparability of questions across countries. The chairman of this group was Roger Jowell and the group included next to Max Kaase also other well known researchers from other countries, such as Jaak Billiet from Belgium and Peter Mohler from Germany and others. We frequently met in London and it became more and more certain that this research would be done in Europe in the next century. This was certainly a topic I was very interested in.
In 1999 I got an invitation to join the methodology group which would prepare the design of the European Social Survey (ESS). The ESS was an initiative of Max Kaase and some other researchers to collect data about the development of opinions in Europe on a scientific basis and not via commercial research organizations. Although I had my doubts about these activities given my experience with the Telepanel and the efficiency of commercial research organizations, I was interested in this new development because it required the study of the quality and comparability of questions across countries. The chairman of this group was Roger Jowell and the group included next to Max Kaase also other well known researchers from other countries, such as Jaak Billiet from Belgium and Peter Mohler from Germany and others. We frequently met in London and it became more and more certain that this research would be done in Europe in the next century. This was certainly a topic I was very interested in.
An application for a research group to meet in 2001
In the Netherlands exists the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities and Social Sciences (NIAS). One can apply there as individual or as a group for a stay of one year to do research. This seemed to me a good way to have a break of teaching and concentrate on my research. I proposed as topic the quality of public opinion research and suggested some senior experts and some young researchers to participate. My proposal was accepted but all younger researchers were rejected because they had not yet published enough. I did not want to go there only with some established researchers who already know each other; there had to be some exchange with younger investigators. I told the board of NIAS that I would cancel my proposal if they did not accept the young researchers. I had success and so we had a mixed group of junior and senior researchers from different disciplines, who could exchange ideas in the academic year of 2001/2002.
It was a hectic year but very interesting
In the Netherlands exists the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities and Social Sciences (NIAS). One can apply there as individual or as a group for a stay of one year to do research. This seemed to me a good way to have a break of teaching and concentrate on my research. I proposed as topic the quality of public opinion research and suggested some senior experts and some young researchers to participate. My proposal was accepted but all younger researchers were rejected because they had not yet published enough. I did not want to go there only with some established researchers who already know each other; there had to be some exchange with younger investigators. I told the board of NIAS that I would cancel my proposal if they did not accept the young researchers. I had success and so we had a mixed group of junior and senior researchers from different disciplines, who could exchange ideas in the academic year of 2001/2002.
It was a hectic year but very interesting