Expanding the methodological toolbox: Factorial surveys in journalism research

Experimental designs to examine attitudes and behavior are crucial to make causal inferences. However, studies that assess attitudes and behavior of journalists are still dominated by correlational designs, such as used in surveys with journalists. Elaborating on historical and practical reasons for that, we argue in this paper why journalism scholars may benefit from including a certain experimental approach to their toolbox: the factorial survey experiment. Using data from a factorial survey with German newspaper journalists, we illustrate the application of factorial surveys from their conceptualization to the data analysis. Suggestions for further fields of application are made

Chapter 13 The Swedish way

This chapter examines public belief formation in Sweden during the first six months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on theories of sociotropic belief formation, we analyze how citizens’ ideology, personal experience, interpersonal talk and media use influence their beliefs about how the coronavirus affects the Swedish society. The findings from analyses of three waves of panel survey data suggest that (1) citizens continuously update their corona beliefs over time; that (2) ideological belief gaps emerge in the initial phase of the crisis but remain relatively constant over time; that (3) corona beliefs primarily depend on ideology and news media use; and that (4) these two factors also influence the likelihood that citizens hold-on to beliefs formed at an early stage of the pandemic. Furthermore, while news media use was more clearly related to perceptions about the magnitude of the coronavirus as a societal problem, ideology played a larger role for perceptions about how Sweden had managed the virus

Chapter 13 The Swedish way

This chapter examines public belief formation in Sweden during the first six months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on theories of sociotropic belief formation, we analyze how citizens’ ideology, personal experience, interpersonal talk and media use influence their beliefs about how the coronavirus affects the Swedish society. The findings from analyses of three waves of panel survey data suggest that (1) citizens continuously update their corona beliefs over time; that (2) ideological belief gaps emerge in the initial phase of the crisis but remain relatively constant over time; that (3) corona beliefs primarily depend on ideology and news media use; and that (4) these two factors also influence the likelihood that citizens hold-on to beliefs formed at an early stage of the pandemic. Furthermore, while news media use was more clearly related to perceptions about the magnitude of the coronavirus as a societal problem, ideology played a larger role for perceptions about how Sweden had managed the virus