Measuring Policy Positions of Political Agents
Date:
06/05/2025
Organised by:
London School of Economics
Presenter:
Emeritus Professor Michael Laver
Level:
Advanced (specialised prior knowledge)
Contact:
Crystal Chia
methodology.research@lse.ac.uk
Description:
Measuring the position and salience of agents’ preferences on key issues is a core empirical project for social science. Methods used to do this include: surveys of experts, political elites and voters; scaling of legislative roll-calls; expert, crowd-sourced or automated analyses of text. Large language models (LLMs) can now do this much more quickly and cheaply. Differences between methods highlight important conceptual and methodological questions about what we mean by, and how we measure, issue position and salience. These include the “separability” of estimated positions and saliences on different issue dimensions. We focus on a range of different approaches to measuring the position and salience of agents’ preferences, but particularly on the systematic and replicable use of LLMs.
Session Details
Time: 10:00 - 15:00 (12:00 - 13:00 Lunch break)
Date: 6 May 2025
Mode: In person only at CON 1.01
Cost:
Free
Website and registration:
Region:
Greater London
Keywords:
Frameworks for Research and Research Designs, Data Collection, Data Quality and Data Management , Qualitative Data Handling and Data Analysis, Quantitative Data Handling and Data Analysis, Mixed Methods Data Handling and Data Analysis, Research Management and Impact, Research Skills, Communication and Dissemination
Related publications and presentations from our eprints archive:
Frameworks for Research and Research Designs
Data Collection
Data Quality and Data Management
Qualitative Data Handling and Data Analysis
Quantitative Data Handling and Data Analysis
Mixed Methods Data Handling and Data Analysis
Research Management and Impact
Research Skills, Communication and Dissemination