Is the left-right scale a valid measure of ideology? Individual-level variation in associations with "left" and "right" and left-right self-placement

In order to measure ideology, political scientists heavily rely on the so-called left-right scale. Left and right are, however, abstract political concepts and may trigger different associations among respondents. If these associations vary systematically with other variables this may induce bias in the empirical study of ideology. We illustrate this problem using a unique survey that asked respondents open-ended questions regarding the meanings they attribute to the concepts "left" and "right". We assess and categorize this textual data using topic modeling techniques. Our analysis shows that variation in respondents’ associations is systematically related to their self-placement on the left-right scale and also to variables such as education and respondents’ cultural background (East vs. West Germany). Our findings indicate that the interpersonal comparability of the left-right scale across individuals is impaired. More generally, our study suggests that we need more research on how respondents interpret various abstract concepts that we regularly use in survey questions

Interface quality and thermal stability of laser-deposited metal/MgO multilayers

Metal/MgO multilayers (metal of Fe80Ni80Nb20, and Ti) with bilayer periods in the range 1.2-3.0 nm have been prepared by pulsed laser deposition and characterized by both hard and soft-x-ray reflectometry. The interface roughness is found to be less than or equal to 0.5 nm in all the samples and is nearly independent of the total number of deposited bilayers. The interface roughness, however, depends on the absolute thickness of the individual layers and increases from approximate to0.3 nm for a 3.0-nm period to approximate to0.5 nm for a bilayer period of 1.2 nm. The multilayers are found to be highly stable up to temperatures as high as 550 degreesC. The hard-x-ray reflectivity of the multilayers decreases for T > 300 degreesC, whereas the layered structure is stable up to 550 degreesC. The reflectivity in the water window region of soft x rays, lambda = 3.374 nm, was found to be 0.4% at an angle of incidence of approximate to54degrees for multilayers with 60 bilayers at a period of approximate to2.1 nm. (C) 2004 Optical Society of America

X-Ray Waveguide Nanostructures - Design, Fabrication and Characterization

Two dimensionally confining x-ray channel waveguide structures are fabricated and used for the delivery of nanoscopic x-ray beams. The waveguides can be combined with a high gain Kirkpatrick-Baez-prefocusing mirror system yielding hard x-ray beams with a cross section down to 25 nm (full width at half maximum). The incoming synchrotron x-ray beam is coupled in from the front side of the waveguide. Here we address the general design of the x-ray optical devices and their fabrication by e-beam lithography methods. (c) 2007 American Institute of Physics

Microstructure of pulsed laser deposited ceramic-metal and polymer-metal nanocomposite thin films

Ceramic-metal (MgO combined with Fe, Ti and Ni80Nb20) and polymer-metal (polycarbonate combined with Ag and Pd) nanocomposite multilayers were deposited at room temperature by laser ablation (at 248 nm). The multilayers were characterized by X-ray reflectometry, infrared spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy. In the case of MgO/metal multilayers, well-layered structures are produced down to layer periodicities of 1.2 nm, necessary for tunneling magnetoresistance devices and X-ray mirrors in the 'water window'. The interface roughness in the case of polymer/metal multilayers is found to be a strong function of the metal layer thickness and also the nature of the metal