Project
POLINEQUAL is divided into five work packages that are built upon each other.
Heuristics of economic inequality (online focus groups)
Identifying ideological cues of economic inequality in elites’ discourses (discourse and content analysis)
Mass media’s representations of economic inequality (discourse and content analysis)
Connecting perceptions and evaluations of economic inequality with their macro-, meso-, and micro-origins and revealing their consequences (representative online surveys)
Establishing the causality of ideological cues and framing effects (online survey experiments)
Work Package 1
Heuristics of economic inequality (online focus groups)
In each country, POLINEQUAL has examined the meaning and origins of perceptions of economic inequality understood as personal heuristics. 90 minutes’ interviews with online focus groups, that consisted of 6 participants each and were stratified by core socio-demographic and regional attributes, have been carried out between January 2022 and February 2022. For this purpose, we relied on Kantar Public which carried out the entire fieldwork (setup of facilities, recruitment of participants, moderation of 24 focus groups, transcripts) in a highly professional and recommendable manner.
The qualitative interviews were mainly exploratory in nature and in order to identify and construct meaningful measurement instruments for the surveys (WP 4) and experimental studies (WP 5). They aimed at producing a subtle understanding of people’s heuristics, such as: what are people’s representations of economic inequality; what is the radius of inequality perceptions and assessments (e.g., geographical: neighbourhoods, communities, regions, country) and how do people feel when they think of economic inequality?
Moreover, all focus group participants (145 persons) filled in a questionnaire with the purpose of collecting a broader range of values, orientations, attitudes, preferences and explanations regarding economic inequality.
Currently, the team members are coding and analysing the qualitative and quantitative datasets. First results on the Swedish study will be presented in June 2022 at the 5th ReNEW Conference in Stockholm and on the entire dataset in July 2022 at the International Society of Political Psychology Conference in Athens.
Work Package 2
Identifying ideological cues of economic inequality in elites’ discourses (discourse and content analysis)
By means of computer assisted discourse analysis, the team members will mainly analyse political interviews, political speeches (parliament, electoral campaigns, but also tweets) and party and campaign manifestos. Prominent and representative mentions (by parties and elites) and references to economic inequality will be assessed.
These analyses will reconstruct the ideological messaging, in particular with a focus on whether economic inequality is (de)politicized in response to social, economic and political circumstances. After the construction of rhetorical devices for the discourse analyses, also taking the findings derived from Work Package 1 into account, fieldwork will start in the second year and be completed during the fourth year. The evaluation of the data will be a constant process and inform Work Packages 4 and 5. It is planned to make this database publicly available.
Work Package 3
Mass media’s representations of economic inequality (discourse and content analysis)
By means of computer assisted content analysis, the team members will monitor the media (national television news, national newspapers and internet information providers) published and broadcast during the first 36 months of POLINEQUAL. These analyses will reconstruct the within (temporal and media-specific) and between-countries differences of the national public discourse, representations and specific frames of economic inequality.
For procedures of sampling of the media outlets, as well as media content to be coded, we will rely on Schuck et al. 2010. This evidence will contribute to Work Packages 4 and 5 and be used to determine the “public mood” towards inequality and redistribution at the aggregate level and to connect individuals’ perceptions and justice evaluations with their media consumption patterns.`
Work Package 4
Connecting perceptions and evaluations of economic inequality with their macro-, meso-, and micro-origins and revealing their consequences (representative online surveys)
During the fourth year of POLINEQUAL, the team members will conduct one common core survey on representative online samples (CAWI). The survey questionnaire will incorporate the main insights derived from Work Packages 1, 2 and 3. It will measure a broad range of citizens’ economic inequality perceptions and justice evaluations, their media consumption patterns, ideological orientations, socio-economic characteristics, party preferences, emotions, personality traits, and social and political attitudes and behaviour.
These data will allow us to discern the effects of the exposure to and conditions and effects of the receptivity of the politicization of economic inequality.
Work Package 5
Establishing the causality of ideological cues and framing effects (online survey experiments)
The team members will conduct framing experiments and carry out a web-based factorial survey with vignettes on representative online samples (CAWI), with N=3,000 respondents in each country.
The experiments will take the cues and frames identified in Work Packages 2 and 3 into account and explore in detail how political messaging and media representations condition perceptions of and preferences for economic inequality and impinge on emotions and political attitudes.
