Gender Gaps in Electoral Turnout: Surveys versus Administrative Censuses

2021 ◽  
pp. 147892992110195
Author(s):  
Paulo Cox ◽  
Mauricio Morales Quiroga
Keyword(s):  
Survey Data ◽  
Gender Gap ◽  
Voter Turnout ◽  
Census Data ◽  
Electoral Participation ◽  
Gender Gaps ◽  
Electoral Turnout ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Official Data ◽  
Rule Out

Gender gaps in voter turnout are usually studied using opinion surveys rather than official census data. This is because administrative censuses usually do not disaggregate turnout according to voters’ sex. Without this official information, much of the research on gender gaps in electoral turnout relies on survey respondents’ self-reported behavior, either before or after an election. The decision to use survey data implies facing several potential drawbacks. Among them are the turnout overstatement bias and the attrition or nonresponse bias, both affecting the estimation of factors explaining turnout and any related statistical analysis. Furthermore, these biases may be correlated with covariates such as gender: men, more than women, may systematically overstate their electoral participation. We analyze turnout gender gaps in Chile, comparing national surveys with official administrative data, which in Chile are publicly available. Crucially, the latter includes the official record of sex, age, and the electoral behavior—whether the individual voted or not—for about 14 million registered individuals. Based on a series of statistical models, we find that analysis based on survey data is likely to rule out gender gaps in electoral participation. Carrying out the same exercises, but with official data, leads to the opposite conclusion, namely, that there is a sizable gender gap favoring women.

scholarly journals Using Facebook Ad Data to Track the Global Digital Gender Gap

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Masoomali Fatehkia ◽  
Ridhi Kashyap ◽  
Ingmar Weber
Keyword(s):  
Mobile Phone ◽  
Gender Gap ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Gender Gaps ◽  
Mobile Access ◽  
Country Level ◽  
Highly Correlated ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Official Data

Gender equality in access to the internet and mobile phones has become increasingly recognised as a development goal. Monitoring progress towards this goal however is challenging due to the limited availability of gender-disaggregated data, particularly in low-income countries. In this data sparse context, we examine the potential of a source of digital trace `big data' -- Facebook's advertisement audience estimates -- that provides aggregate data on Facebook users by demographic characteristics covering the platform's over 2 billion users to measure and `nowcast' digital gender gaps. We generate a unique country-level dataset combining `online' indicators of Facebook users by gender, age and device type, `offline' indicators related to a country's overall development and gender gaps, and official data on gender gaps in internet and mobile access where available. Using this dataset, we predict internet and mobile phone gender gaps from official data using online indicators, as well as online and offline indicators. We find that the online Facebook gender gap indicators are highly correlated with official statistics on internet and mobile phone gender gaps. For internet gender gaps, models using Facebook data do better than those using offline indicators alone. Models combining online and offline variables however have the highest predictive power. Our approach demonstrates the feasibility of using Facebook data for real-time tracking of digital gender gaps. It enables us to improve geographical coverage for an important development indicator, with the biggest gains made for low-income countries for which existing data are most limited.

The gender gap in voter turnout: An artefact of men’s over-reporting in survey research?

2021 ◽  
pp. 136914812110568
Author(s):  
Daniel Stockemer ◽  
Aksel Sundstrom
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Survey Research ◽  
Survey Data ◽  
Gender Gap ◽  
Voter Turnout ◽  
Gender Inequalities ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Moderate Evidence ◽  
Official Records ◽  
Cross National

Is there a gender gap in voting? Most cross-national survey research on gender inequalities in voter turnout finds that men have a higher probability to vote than women. Yet, some studies using validated turnout data shed some doubt on this finding. We revisit the question of a gender gap in voting using official records. In more detail, we compare the gender gap in turnout between survey data and official electoral figures across 73 elections. Our results highlight that in surveys, men still report higher turnout in most countries. However, official electoral figures reveal contrasting trends: across countries, women are, on average, more likely to vote. We also test two explanations for this difference in turnout between official figures and surveys: (1) men over-report voting more than women and (2) the survey samples of men and women are different. We find some, albeit very moderate, evidence for the first explanation. We find some, albeit very moderate, evidence for the first explanation and no support for the second explanation. All in all, our research nevertheless suggests that scholars should be careful in using surveys to detect gender differences in voting.

O sister, where art thou? Theory and evidence on female participation at citizen assemblies

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 173-195 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marlène Gerber ◽  
Hans-Peter Schaub ◽  
Sean Mueller
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Survey Data ◽  
Gender Gap ◽  
Political Engagement ◽  
Political Interest ◽  
Gender Gaps ◽  
Female Participation ◽  
Original Survey

This article investigates gender differences in participation at the citizen assembly of Glarus, Switzerland. We use original survey data collected among 800 citizens. We find significant gender gaps both for attending and holding a speech at the assembly. Lower female attendance is particularly pronounced among older cohorts and can largely be explained by gender differences in political interest, knowledge and efficacy. In contrast, the gender gap in speaking is substantial regardless of age and cannot be reduced to factors that typically shape participation. Hence, gender differences are disappearing in voting but persist in more public, interactive forms of political engagement.

scholarly journals Bias in Self-reported Voting and How it Distorts Turnout Models: Disentangling Nonresponse Bias and Overreporting Among Danish Voters

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 590-598 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jens Olav Dahlgaard ◽  
Jonas Hedegaard Hansen ◽  
Kasper M. Hansen ◽  
Yosef Bhatti
Keyword(s):  
Survey Data ◽  
Administrative Data ◽  
Gender Gap ◽  
Voter Turnout ◽  
National Election ◽  
Nonresponse Bias ◽  
Percentage Points ◽  
Election Studies

Most nonexperimental studies of voter turnout rely on survey data. However, surveys overestimate turnout because of (1) nonresponse bias and (2) overreporting. We investigate this possibility using a rich dataset of Danish voters, which includes validated turnout indicators from administrative data for both respondents and nonrespondents, as well as respondents’ self-reported voting from the Danish National Election Studies. We show that both nonresponse bias and overreporting contribute significantly to overestimations of turnout. Further, we use covariates from the administrative data available for both respondents and nonrespondents to demonstrate that both factors also significantly bias the predictors of turnout. In our case, we find that nonresponse bias and overreporting masks a gender gap of two and a half percentage points in women’s favor as well as a gap of 25 percentage points in ethnic Danes’ favor compared with Danes of immigrant heritage.

scholarly journals Gender inequality in COVID-19 times: evidence from UK prolific participants

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-27
Author(s):  
Sonia Oreffice ◽  
Climent Quintana-Domeque
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Gender Inequality ◽  
Gender Gap ◽  
Gender Gaps ◽  
Health Concerns ◽  
Unemployment Rates ◽  
Future State ◽  
Multiple Dimensions ◽  
The Difference ◽  
The Uk

Abstract We investigate gender differences across multiple dimensions after 3 months of the first UK lockdown of March 2020, using an online sample of approximately 1,500 Prolific respondents’ residents in the UK. We find that women's mental health was worse than men along the four metrics we collected data on, that women were more concerned about getting and spreading the virus, and that women perceived the virus as more prevalent and lethal than men did. Women were also more likely to expect a new lockdown or virus outbreak by the end of 2020, and were more pessimistic about the contemporaneous and future state of the UK economy, as measured by their forecasted contemporaneous and future unemployment rates. We also show that between earlier in 2020 before the outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic and June 2020, women had increased childcare and housework more than men. Neither the gender gaps in COVID-19-related health and economic concerns nor the gender gaps in the increase in hours of childcare and housework can be accounted for by a rich set of control variables. Instead, we find that the gender gap in mental health can be partially accounted for by the difference in COVID-19-related health concerns between men and women.

The Determinants and Consequences of Accurate Beliefs About Childhood Vaccinations

2017 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 628-649 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark R. Joslyn ◽  
Steven M. Sylvester
Keyword(s):  
Educational Attainment ◽  
Survey Data ◽  
Party Identification ◽  
Motivated Reasoning ◽  
Parental Choice ◽  
Practical Significance ◽  
The Public ◽  
Policy Attitudes ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Impact

In this article, we examine the individual predictors that are responsible for accurate beliefs about the link between vaccinations and autism. We then show how these beliefs affect policy preferences about vaccines. We derive two hypotheses from motivated reasoning theory and test these on national survey data from Gallup and CBS News. Republicans were less likely to report accurate beliefs than Democrats. In addition, educational attainment modified the impact of party identification. The gap between Republicans and Democrats in likelihood of reporting accurate beliefs was largest among the most educated portion of the public. Finally, we show that accurate beliefs about vaccines, independent of statistical controls, are important predictors of policy attitudes about unvaccinated children attending public school and parental choice about the decision to vaccinate. We discuss the theoretical and practical significance of these findings.

The gender gap in sport event attendance in Europe: The impact of macro-level gender equality

2016 ◽  
Vol 53 (5) ◽  
pp. 533-549 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Lagaert ◽  
Henk Roose
Keyword(s):  
Gender Equality ◽  
Gender Gap ◽  
Macro Level ◽  
Comparative Approach ◽  
Gender Inequalities ◽  
Gender Gaps ◽  
Sport Event ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Eu Countries ◽  
The Impact

This paper studies the gender gap in sport event attendance – characterized by higher male and lower female participation – using a macro-sociological and cross-national comparative approach. We argue that because gender is produced and justified in the realm of sport, gender gaps in sport event attendance may be more pronounced in some societies than others, depending on the position women and men have in the particular context in which someone ‘does’ his/her gender. So, in addition to individual attributes, one has to consider the societal, macro-level gender equality in order to understand the individual-level gender inequalities in sport event attendance. Using multilevel analyses on Eurobarometer data (2007), we evaluate whether the size of the gender gap in sport event attendance varies across European Union (EU) countries and how this variation relates to societal gender equality, as measured by the Gender Equality Index of the European Institute for Gender Equality. We find higher male than female attendance in all EU countries, but also conclude that higher levels of macro-level gender equality are associated with smaller gender gaps in sport event attendance.

Too sick to vote? Public health and voter turnout in Russia during the 1990s

2003 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
Therese C. Reitan
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Life Expectancy ◽  
Voter Turnout ◽  
Economic Resources ◽  
The Political ◽  
Aggregate Level ◽  
Regional Data ◽  
Political Climate ◽  
Political Resources ◽  
Electoral Turnout

Determinants of political participation and electoral turnout are still of great interest within political science and three broad types of factors have been found to influence turnout significantly; individual or area-specific traits, characteristics of the electoral systems, and features relating to the political climate in individual elections. Within the first group, socio-economic resources, typically education, income, and occupation, have been found to be particularly important. This article proposes that public health is also a relevant form of social and political resources at the aggregate level. Regional data on life expectancy and electoral turnout from Russia—a country with dramatically deteriorated public health during the 1990s—were therefore correlated with each other. Overall, correlations were positive and significant, and there is, then, reason to investigate further the possible relationship between public health and the propensity to turn out at elections.

Linking Federal Surveys with Administrative Data to Improve Research on Families

2016 ◽  
Vol 669 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy O’Hara ◽  
Rachel M. Shattuck ◽  
Robert M. Goerge
Keyword(s):  
Survey Data ◽  
Administrative Data ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Family Relationships ◽  
Census Data ◽  
Federal State ◽  
Great Promise ◽  
Science Literature ◽  
Administrative Records ◽  
State And Local

Linkage of federal, state, and local administrative records to survey data holds great promise for research on families, in particular research on low-income families. Researchers can use administrative records in conjunction with survey data to better measure family relationships and to capture the experiences of individuals and family members across multiple points in time and social and economic domains. Administrative data can be used to evaluate program participation in government social welfare programs, as well as to evaluate the accuracy of reporting on receipt of such benefits. Administrative records can also be used to enhance collection and accuracy of survey and census data and to improve coverage of hard-to-reach populations. This article discusses potential uses of linked administrative and survey data, gives an overview of the linking methodology and infrastructure (including limitations), and reviews social science literature that has used this method to date.

scholarly journals Demographic Losses Due To Alcohol-Related Mortality in Lithuania: Results Obtained Through Combining Death Records with the 2011 Population Census Data

2014 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-23
Author(s):  
Daumantas Stumbrys ◽  
Domantas Jasilionis ◽  
Dalia Ambrozaitienė ◽  
Vlada Stankūnienė
Keyword(s):  
Marital Status ◽  
Mortality Risk ◽  
Census Data ◽  
Population Data ◽  
Mortality Data ◽  
Population Census ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Education Groups ◽  
Related Mortality

This paper presents the results of a study on sociodemographic mortality differentials in Lithuania based on censuslinked mortality data. Population data come from the individual records of the 2011 Population and Housing Census of the Republic of Lithuania. The results of the research demonstrate that education and marital status are very strong predictors of alcohol-related mortality. Among males aged 30 and older, the alcohol-related mortality risk in non-married groups is up to 3.4 times as high as in the group of married males. The alcohol-related mortality risk in lower-education groups is up to 3.7 times as high as in the group of those with higher education. The findings of the study suggest that the elimination of educational differences would allow avoiding 55.7 %, the elimination of marital status differences – 40.2 %, the elimination of ethnic group differences – 11.1 % of alcohol-related deaths.

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