Abstract
Scholars estimating policy positions from political texts typically code words or sentences and then build left-right policy scales based on the relative frequencies of text units coded into different categories. Here we reexamine such scales and propose a theoretically and linguistically superior alternative based on the logarithm of oddsratios. We contrast this scale with the current approach of the Comparative Manifesto Project (CMP), showing that our proposed logit scale avoids widely acknowledged flaws in previous approaches. We validate the new scale using independent expert surveys. Using existing CMP data, we show how to estimate more distinct policy dimensions, for more years, than has been possible before, and make this dataset publicly available. Finally, we draw some conclusions about the future design of coding schemes for political texts.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 123-155 |
| Number of pages | 33 |
| Journal | Legislative Studies Quarterly |
| Volume | 36 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Feb 2011 |
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ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Sociology and Political Science
Cite this
Scaling policy preferences from coded political texts. / Will, Lowe; Benoit, Kenneth; Slava, Mikhaylov; Laver, Michael.
In: Legislative Studies Quarterly, Vol. 36, No. 1, 02.2011, p. 123-155.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Scaling policy preferences from coded political texts
AU - Will, Lowe
AU - Benoit, Kenneth
AU - Slava, Mikhaylov
AU - Laver, Michael
PY - 2011/2
Y1 - 2011/2
N2 - Scholars estimating policy positions from political texts typically code words or sentences and then build left-right policy scales based on the relative frequencies of text units coded into different categories. Here we reexamine such scales and propose a theoretically and linguistically superior alternative based on the logarithm of oddsratios. We contrast this scale with the current approach of the Comparative Manifesto Project (CMP), showing that our proposed logit scale avoids widely acknowledged flaws in previous approaches. We validate the new scale using independent expert surveys. Using existing CMP data, we show how to estimate more distinct policy dimensions, for more years, than has been possible before, and make this dataset publicly available. Finally, we draw some conclusions about the future design of coding schemes for political texts.
AB - Scholars estimating policy positions from political texts typically code words or sentences and then build left-right policy scales based on the relative frequencies of text units coded into different categories. Here we reexamine such scales and propose a theoretically and linguistically superior alternative based on the logarithm of oddsratios. We contrast this scale with the current approach of the Comparative Manifesto Project (CMP), showing that our proposed logit scale avoids widely acknowledged flaws in previous approaches. We validate the new scale using independent expert surveys. Using existing CMP data, we show how to estimate more distinct policy dimensions, for more years, than has been possible before, and make this dataset publicly available. Finally, we draw some conclusions about the future design of coding schemes for political texts.
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U2 - 10.1111/j.1939-9162.2010.00006.x
DO - 10.1111/j.1939-9162.2010.00006.x
M3 - Article
VL - 36
SP - 123
EP - 155
JO - Legislative Studies Quarterly
JF - Legislative Studies Quarterly
SN - 0362-9805
IS - 1
ER -