More activities between 1990-1995
One would think that I had enough work with the NIMMO-telepanel but the reconstruction of my activities in that period showed the opposite. I had a very intensive program besides the management of the NIMMO-telepanel. Below I will give a brief impression .
Finishing earlier work
Given the work we had done on developing computer assisted data collection I was invited at different places to talk about this work and to write a small book about this approach in a series of quantitative methods of the Publisher Sage. This book was published in 1991. Besides that I have published a book about the CASIP project that we did in the first year of the NIMMO-telepanel activities.
Finishing earlier work
Given the work we had done on developing computer assisted data collection I was invited at different places to talk about this work and to write a small book about this approach in a series of quantitative methods of the Publisher Sage. This book was published in 1991. Besides that I have published a book about the CASIP project that we did in the first year of the NIMMO-telepanel activities.
New foreign PhD students
In that time I accepted the supervision of 3 new foreign PhD students: one from Hungary, one from Suriname (South America) and one from Curacao (Dutch Antilles).
Akos Munnich from Hungary
Akos Munnich came to me and told me that he had a mathematics background but worked in the psychology department in Debrecen. He was interested in measurement problems. That fitted well with my interest but his approach was very mathematical. Earlier he was in Groningen but there he got problems. The problem was that he had criticized their research in one of the first meetings where he participated. A specific model that was the topic of the dissertation of one of the students was discussed and Akos had suggested that he did not understood why they used such a restricted model and suggested a far more general model. The supervisor of this student did not like this comment and foresaw more problems therefore he proposed that he would work with me.
I had good experiences with another mathematical student (Albert Satorra). I accepted him in my group but contacted for more mathematical backing my predecessor Prof. Mokken.
In that time I accepted the supervision of 3 new foreign PhD students: one from Hungary, one from Suriname (South America) and one from Curacao (Dutch Antilles).
Akos Munnich from Hungary
Akos Munnich came to me and told me that he had a mathematics background but worked in the psychology department in Debrecen. He was interested in measurement problems. That fitted well with my interest but his approach was very mathematical. Earlier he was in Groningen but there he got problems. The problem was that he had criticized their research in one of the first meetings where he participated. A specific model that was the topic of the dissertation of one of the students was discussed and Akos had suggested that he did not understood why they used such a restricted model and suggested a far more general model. The supervisor of this student did not like this comment and foresaw more problems therefore he proposed that he would work with me.
I had good experiences with another mathematical student (Albert Satorra). I accepted him in my group but contacted for more mathematical backing my predecessor Prof. Mokken.
Akos joined my IRMCS group and contributed a lot to our discussions and invited our group also to Hungary. Around 1994 we had data from 10 different countries where the same life satisfaction questions were asked. Then we developed the idea to make two books: one on the explanation of life satisfaction across different countries and a book about the MTMM experiments we had done. Akos arranged that these two books have been published respectively in 1995 and 1996 by the Eötvös University Press in Budapest.
In a short time Akos finished his dissertation supervised by professor Mokken and me. At the moment he is professor at the University of Debrecen, director of the institute of psychology, head of the department of social and work psychology. He is also the leader of group which is doing commercial applied scientific research.
In a short time Akos finished his dissertation supervised by professor Mokken and me. At the moment he is professor at the University of Debrecen, director of the institute of psychology, head of the department of social and work psychology. He is also the leader of group which is doing commercial applied scientific research.
Gilbert Cijntje of Caracao
Looking for a way to go to Paramaribo we detected that the cheapest way was to go first to Curacao and from there to Paramaribo. Curacao is a very special place. There is a beautiful harbor with typical Dutch houses but in many different colors. In the front the people wolk on a bridge which is floating on little boats. The bridge can be moved away to allow big cruise ships to enter the harbor.
Looking for a way to go to Paramaribo we detected that the cheapest way was to go first to Curacao and from there to Paramaribo. Curacao is a very special place. There is a beautiful harbor with typical Dutch houses but in many different colors. In the front the people wolk on a bridge which is floating on little boats. The bridge can be moved away to allow big cruise ships to enter the harbor.
Beeing there we visited the social science faculty of the university and we were received very friendly and spoke about our work. In this way we got in contact with Gilbert Cijntje who was interested to do his PhD under my supervision on a topic related to the political situation in Curacao. For this study he came to the Netherlands and he worked on his dissertation in Amsterdam and in Curacao and got his PhD in Amsterdam in 1997.
He is now professor in methodology at the Inter-continental University of the Caribbean.
He is now professor in methodology at the Inter-continental University of the Caribbean.
Jack Menke from Suriname
In Paramaribo I was supposed to give a course of two weeks on research methods and to repeat this in other years as well but in doing so I did not think that this made much sense because the country had other needs than my courses on measurement procedures and computer assisted data collection. For example how can one do the sampling for survey research in a country where a large part of the population lives in a very large area with hardly any formal administration?
In Paramaribo I was supposed to give a course of two weeks on research methods and to repeat this in other years as well but in doing so I did not think that this made much sense because the country had other needs than my courses on measurement procedures and computer assisted data collection. For example how can one do the sampling for survey research in a country where a large part of the population lives in a very large area with hardly any formal administration?
I spoke about this with the director of the research institute and Jack Menke. We draw the conclusion that the best would be that we spend the money for the courses on a visit of him to the Netherlands to learn there how we think about research and to talk about the way these procedures can be applied in Suriname. After that he then could apply this knowledge in the best possible way in Suriname. This has been done. He studied in Amsterdam, made his dissertation on “Restructuring Urban Employment and Poverty. The case of Suriname”. This approach has worked well.
Now he is professor at this university, director of the research institute and now also chancellor of the University
Now he is professor at this university, director of the research institute and now also chancellor of the University
Russian panel 1993-1997
My brother, who was director of a physics laboratory, informed me that Dutch Science Foundation provided grants for research in Russia. In principle the idea behind the grants was that subsidies would go to physics labs so that the researchers could continue to work there and would not sell all their knowledge about nuclear weapons and other things to other countries. I applied for a panel to register the social changes that occurred in Russia. The money was not for our group but for the work done in Russia. I made a proposal and got the grant. This made it possible to collect also MTMM data in Russia and to study the stability of opinions through time. This was a new topic what we were taking up. The study started with a survey in 1993 with a flash back to the time before the change. After this first survey, 5 years after each other, the same people were asked about their life if they could be found again. Annette Scherpenzeel Anna Andreenkova and I developed the questionnaires, not only the MTMM experiments but also the other questions about living conditions and life satisfaction. The data were collected by the survey research organization CESSI of Wladimir Andreenkov.
The table shows that the people in Russia were much less satisfied after the change than before the change.
My brother, who was director of a physics laboratory, informed me that Dutch Science Foundation provided grants for research in Russia. In principle the idea behind the grants was that subsidies would go to physics labs so that the researchers could continue to work there and would not sell all their knowledge about nuclear weapons and other things to other countries. I applied for a panel to register the social changes that occurred in Russia. The money was not for our group but for the work done in Russia. I made a proposal and got the grant. This made it possible to collect also MTMM data in Russia and to study the stability of opinions through time. This was a new topic what we were taking up. The study started with a survey in 1993 with a flash back to the time before the change. After this first survey, 5 years after each other, the same people were asked about their life if they could be found again. Annette Scherpenzeel Anna Andreenkova and I developed the questionnaires, not only the MTMM experiments but also the other questions about living conditions and life satisfaction. The data were collected by the survey research organization CESSI of Wladimir Andreenkov.
The table shows that the people in Russia were much less satisfied after the change than before the change.
The Eurobarometer
From 1991-1995 I was member of the advisory board of the Eurobarometer. The Eurobarometer collected monthly data about the opinions of the people about matters that were related to European policies and general attitudes and feelings about the European cooperation. This was interesting work because this was next to my IRMCS research a second project where I was confronted with the problem of comparability of research across countries. Besides I became more familiar with the European institutions
In this advisory board I worked together with Max Kaase and Roger Jowell. Later we also formed with some more people the group who prepared the European Social Survey which has played an important role in my later scientific work.
Given all these activities next to the telepanel, you may wonder whether I also saw Irmtraud? This questions I will answer in the next story.
From 1991-1995 I was member of the advisory board of the Eurobarometer. The Eurobarometer collected monthly data about the opinions of the people about matters that were related to European policies and general attitudes and feelings about the European cooperation. This was interesting work because this was next to my IRMCS research a second project where I was confronted with the problem of comparability of research across countries. Besides I became more familiar with the European institutions
In this advisory board I worked together with Max Kaase and Roger Jowell. Later we also formed with some more people the group who prepared the European Social Survey which has played an important role in my later scientific work.
Given all these activities next to the telepanel, you may wonder whether I also saw Irmtraud? This questions I will answer in the next story.