Ragnar Waldahl

The Accuracy of Recalled Previous Voting: Evidence from Norwegian Election Study Panels

Data on individual variations from one election to the next is fundamental in the study of political behaviour, and should, ideally, be collected through panel studies in which the same people are interviewed at two or more or elections. This method is, however, costly and time consuming, and most analyses of this type are therefore based on recall data, in which the voters report their choices in the current election and also in previous elections. The accuracy of recall data is discussed, based on data from the Norwegian Programme of Election Research in the period 1977–97. Analyses show that one must expect, using this type of data, that about one in four voters will give incorrect information about their voting behaviour at the previous election. Erroneous recall of previous voting can be explained by variations in the voters’ affiliation to the parties. Whereas stable voters who remain with the same party normally report their voting correctly, erroneous recall varies around 40 percent for party changers and rises to 70 percent among previous non-voters. There is, however, no uniform underlying pattern in erroneous recall during different periods, which implies that it is difficult to predict exactly how erroneous recall will affect the accuracy of recall data in one particular election.

Frame that gene. A tool for analysing and classifying the communication of genetics to the public.

Enabling the public to understand scientific concepts and advances, and the issues they raise, is an increasingly important challenge for scientists and politicians alike. Public opinion—received via polls and elections—can influence scientific policy‐making, and hence affect the funding and even the nature or focus of research itself. The fierce dispute over genetically modified crops in Europe, and the sometimes bitter debates about research using human embryonic stem cells in both Europe and the USA, highlight the enormous importance of public opinion on scientific issues. A greater awareness of the ethical, technical and philosophical issues surrounding research, as well as a better understanding of the science itself, could lead to more rational debates and outcomes—at least, that is what many scientists hope. The media therefore has a central role in furthering or modifying the public understanding of, and engagement with, scientific issues: it is the main source of information for many people, even more so than politicians, educators or scientists. > A greater awareness of the ethical, technical and philosophical issues surrounding research […] could lead to more rational debates and outcomes… No single scientific concept is more fundamental to the understanding of life science than ‘the gene’. The gene has also become a key term in public discourse, and hardly a day goes by without some mention of genes in the media (Petersen, 2002). So, what is a gene in the eyes of the public? Several studies have highlighted the tendency of the mass media to present genes as deterministic causes of human behaviour or disease, as exemplified by headlines such as ‘The infidelity gene’ or ‘Drunk? Its in your genes’ (Hubbard & Wald, 1993; Nelkin & Lindee, 1995; Condit et al , 1998; Conrad, 2001; Condit, 2007). On the basis of an analysis of popular discourse in …

Mediated political cleavages: Zimbabwe's 2000 election seen through the media

Abstract The 2000 parliamentary election was the first Zimbabwean election in which the media situation gave the opposition against Presider t Robert Mugabe and his Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front (ZANU (PF)) a fair possibility to inform the voters about the political situation in the country. Even if ZANU (PF) still controlled radio and television, a few newspapers opposed to the regime had been established toward the end of the 1990s. This article discusses three political consequences of this new situation: Which way did the new media situation influence the election campaign agenda? How did the media present the conduct of the election in the light of generally accepted democratic rules? What did the media tell voters about the political violence that took place during the election campaign?

The World on Television

Abstract How does television cover foreign news? What is covered and how? The present article reports on a comparative study of a license-financed public broadcaster and an advertising-financed channel in Norway – the NRK and TV2, respectively. Both channels give priority to international news. While the NRK devotes more time to foreign news (both in absolute and relative numbers) than TV2 does, other aspects of the coverage are strikingly similar: The news is event oriented, there is heavy use of eyewitness footage, and certain regions are hardly visible. At least three explanations can be used to understand these findings: the technological platform (what footage is available, etc.) and the existence of a common news culture that is based on ratings and similar views on what is considered “good television”. A third factor is that both channels still have public service obligations.

Book Reviews : Ole Borre, Hans Jørgen Nielsen, Steen Sauerberg, Torben Worre: Vælgere i 70-erne. Akademisk Forlag, Copenhagen 1976

My main objections are that he repeats himself to some extent, and that he should have been somewhat more concise in defining educational, demographic and economic concepts which he uses. Furthermore, I would have preferred a more technical and precise treatment of the most difficult chains of reasoning. His excuse is probably that the has addressed himself to specialists as well as non-specialists, who would not be interested in a more scientific exposition. These objections apart, the author demonstrates a thorough knowledge of the field, and the book can be strongly recommended to all those who are interested in educational development in underdeveloped countries and in development problems in general.