This volume compiles a series of jointly produced articles by the two authors which are partly new and partly already published. Three general themes can be specified which lie at the heart of this book. The first major theme focuses on an ongoing phase transition in the overall science landscapes from a traditional configuration under the name of Science I to an emergent ensemble under the heading of Science II. The second large topic discusses the impact of the transition from Science I to Science II for empirical social research, especially for survey research. The impact of Science II for survey research is being discussed especially with the help of data from the European Social Survey (ESS). The third focus of the book introduces the notion of RISC-societies (Rare Incidents, Strong Consequences) as a general evolutionary framework for societal analyses and the wider implications for empirical social research
COBISS.SI-ID: 31766365
When measuring (complex) attitudes within a social survey, researchers often use balanced lists of positive and negative items. The purpose of the present research is to investigate: (a) whether a specific order of measurement scale items can lead to the bipolar (single-dimensional) concept (attitude) being recognised as a dual (bi-dimensional) concept and vice-versa; and (b) whether item order can affect the consistency (metric characteristics) of a measurement scale. An experiment on a group of social science students was conducted: students were randomly split into three subgroups and three different version of a questionnaire (with three differing item orders) were applied. A multi-group confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and a single group CFA for each item order separately were applied. The final conclusion of the experiment is that there is no general rule about how and when respondents form separate (dual) or unidimensional (continuous) representations of measured concepts. Item-order effects are possible, but they are not as important as one would expect. The results of the experiment also suggest that other factors should be taken into account: the content of the measured concept and the cognitive sophistication of the respondents.
COBISS.SI-ID: 30583645
The article provides an analysis of the determinants of the success of transitions to democracy based on a combination of qualitative comparative analysis of Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro and Macedonia; and hierarchical clustering. The key finding is that one can reveal configurations of several factors which jointly determine either continuous or disrupted transitions to democracy.
COBISS.SI-ID: 28574813
Background: Historically speaking, public health systems were established to guarantee every citizen equal access to health care and to separate the issue of an individual's health from issues of material welbeing. Using social science methodology, the study set out to explore how successful the welfare system in Slovenia was in achieving this goal during the last three decades, i.e. to what extent social inequalities in Slovenia are being reproduced as health inequalities. Methods: The study is based on six waves of Slovenian Public Opinion surveys carried out between 1981 and 2011 on representative samples of the adult Slovenian population. The main dependent variable is the respondent's selfassessed health and the main independent variable is his or her socio-economic status. The relationship between them was examined using Chi-square tests and regression analysis. Results: The thirty year trend shows persisting inequalities in health as throughout the entire period, self-assessed health is significantly lower at the bottom of the educational and income scale. The largest differences between social strata are observed in the 30 to 60 age group when labour market pressures are most pronounced. Conclusions: The results indicate that inequalities in health are almost impossible to eliminate as long as their deeper causes lie in social inequality. An additional factor that decreases self-assessed health in Slovenia compared to Western Europe is the low level of trust in people and social institutions, which is the likely reason why the relatively favourable statistical picture of social inequalities is not translated into an equally favourable picture of subjective health.
COBISS.SI-ID: 30994525
The article contributes to the literature on the changing concept of citizenship in the process of globalisation. It sets out from the thesis that the classic concepts of citizenship, which are linked to the nation state, are slowlybut steadily losing their monopoly on explaining the relationship between individuals, the political community and government. Based on a theoretical discussion of the new models of citizenship, the authors seek to identify the elements of post-national citizenship. The main research goal of the analysis is to discover the conditions in which elements of post-national citizenship are most likely to occur. The analysis is based on aggregated individual (survey) data (from the ESS 2008 and the EVS 2008) and macro contextual data on European Union countries. On the macro (country) level, the authors conduct a hierarchical cluster analysis and crisp set QCA and make the following findings. First, two groups of countries are formed: (a) a fairly homogeneous group of six post-national citizenship countries; and (b) a more heterogeneous group of classic citizenship countries. Second, post-national citizenshipis to be expected in countries in which the following conditions are combined: on the one hand, secularised and post-industrial societies with less emphasis on a knowledge society, and on the other hand, societies with a stable national status where knowledge is important.
COBISS.SI-ID: 32483165