Special Poster Session: Survey Research in Croatia |
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| Session Organiser | Professor Ivan Čipin (University of Zagreb) |
| Time | Wednesday 17th July, 15:00 - 16:30 |
| Room | EDC - FEB Library Lobby |
This special poster session will showcase large-scale social surveys being conducted in Croatia and the methodological challenges they face. The posters will remain on display throughout the conference, and authors will be available during the main poster session to discuss their research with interested delegates. The session will be accompanied by presentations in the Library lobby, discussing the history of survey research in Croatia and lesson learned.
Keywords: Croatia, survey methodology
Mr Aleksandar Štulhofer (Department of Sociology, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb) - Presenting Author
Mr Teo Matković (Independent Researcher, Zagreb)
Mr Goran Koletić (Department of Sociology, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb)
Longitudinal research is uniquely suited to the study of the negative consequences of
problem behaviors among adolescents. Despite its advantages, longitudinal research also faces specific challenges, including panel attrition. The key issue in panel attrition is whether or not participants who drop out of a study vary systematically from those that remain in the study, particularly with respect to the characteristics under investigation. Unfortunately, little is known about participant attrition in longitudinal panel studies that have focused on sexualized media use among adolescents. To explore selective dropout more systematically and make practical recommendations for longitudinal assessments of adolescents’ use of sexualized media, this study analyzes attrition in two independent large-scale panel studies of sexualized media use among high-school students over the period of approximately two years (the PROBIOPS 2015-2018 project). The studies—both of which included 6 data collection waves and covered the transition from middle to late adolescence—used different data collection modalities (online vs classroom-based surveying). In this study, we focus on four research questions: RQ1—was attrition substantially different among adolescents who may be particularly vulnerable to pornography use (henceforth, the vulnerable group) compared to other participants; RQ2—were specific participant’s characteristics, such as the intention to continue participating in the study, honest reporting and attentiveness while filling out the questionnaire, predictive of membership in the vulnerable group; RQ3—was non-response to questions about the frequency of pornography use more frequent in the vulnerable group than among other adolescents; and RQ4—did data collection modality (online vs. classroom-based) moderate associations between attrition, the participant’s characteristics and non-response about pornography use, and the group membership?
Mr Šime Smolić (University of Zagreb, Faculty of Economics & Business) - Presenting Author
Ms Sanja Klempić Bogadi (The Institute for Migration and Ethnic Studies)
In the SHARE Wave 6, Croatia joined this longitudinal biennial study of people aged 50 or older. The SHARE became first longitudinal study ever conducted in Croatia, currently pending for its 3rd consecutive wave. In our analysis, we focus on the main fieldwork data collection of the SHARE Waves 6 and 7 in Croatia. We present the most important challenges that occurred within this crucial phase of the study, and procedures and innovations used to assess and control data collection.
Main fieldwork of the Wave 6 started in June, and ended in November 2015, while fieldwork activities in the Wave 7 lasted from March to October 2017. When it comes to the timing and efficiency of the main fieldwork, we observed quite large regional differences with Continental Croatia having much faster and stable data collection, and Adriatic region where main data collection was slow, and required more resources. An example for the SHARE Wave 7 depicts this situation very well: by the end of week 12 of the main fieldwork, Continental region had 73% and Adriatic region 47% completed interviews. Part of this lagging can be attributed to summer season and insufficient infrastructure and poor organization of the survey agencies. However, these regional differences should be explored more extensively.
Great part of the SHARE data collection process consists of the interviewer monitoring. While interviewer-monitoring had been centralized starting from the Wave 7, still much of the responsibility lies at county teams. To learn more about its 2,000 interviewers SHARE even developed and implemented an interviewer survey. Croatian experience in the interviewer monitoring is built in the Wave 6 when rigid quality controls resulted in dropping large number of interviews. SHARE extensive controls, cooperation with country team and survey agency are crucial in efficient problem-resolving process.
Ms Ljiljana Kaliterna Lipovčan (Ivo Pilar Institute of Social Sciences, Zagreb) - Presenting Author
Ms Andreja Brajša-Žganec (Ivo Pilar Institute of Social Sciences, Zagreb)
Ms Zvjezdana Prizmić Larsen (Psychological and Brain Sciences, Washington University in St. Louis)
Ms Maja Tadić (Ivo Pilar Institute of Social Sciences, Zagreb)
Ms Lana Lučić (Ivo Pilar Institute of Social Sciences, Zagreb)
This study explores the relationship between life outcomes defined as positive and negative life events and well-being. The aim is to examine whether the different components of well-being such as life satisfaction, positive and negative affect, and psychological well-being are distinctly associated with positive and negative life events. The study posits that high levels of well-being enable the creation of later favorable life events. Project is financed by Croatian science foundation in duration of four years (2015-2019).
In order to approach a large number of participants and to apply two follow-ups, research team decided to implement a web-based survey, with open invitation to all adult users of internet. Participants could assess the application via various browsers, and it was also adjusted for smartphones. “Friendly use” of the online application, understanding of questions and answering method, as well as ethical concerns, was tested using focus groups and individual trials. To enable matching the participants from two waves, every participant had to log in to the web page using his/her e-mail address. While e-mail address was protected by data-base, special computer-program created token associated with each participant. After completing the initial questionnaire, each participant receives annual invitation reminder by e-mail to participate in follow-ups.
At the first wave, sample consisted of N=5031 participants aged 18-85 (M = 35.1; SD = 12.06). At the second wave, after one year follow-up interval, the final follow-up sample consisted of N=2752 participants aged 19-78 (M = 37.5; SD = 12.09) who completed measures at both Time 1 and at Time 2 (55% total response rate). The third wave of the study is in progress.
Mr Branko Ančić (Institute for social research in Zagreb) - Presenting Author
Mrs Marija Brajdić Vuković (University of Zagreb)
Mr Mladen Domazet (Institute for political ecology)
Mrs Dinka Marinović Jerolimov (Institute for social research in Zagreb)
Mr Andro Rilović (Institute for political ecology)
Consumption of energy and materials has increased exponentially across the globe since the Industrial Revolution, resulting in environmental degradation without diminution of critical social problems. By pushing Earth´s climate and biosphere out of dynamics of the Holocene (Steffan et al.,2105), humanity is at risk of moving outside of the safe and operating space for humanity. Tracking environmental and social sustainability indicators is crucial in order for humanity to simultaneously reduce environmental impacts and improve well-being. Special attention should be given to projections of fair environmental (planetary) boundaries on the imperative of economic growth, given its severe burden on the environment and the basis for future social reproduction (D’Alisa et al. 2014). The aim of our paper is to improve the understanding of “the social context” in which environmental degradation occurs through combining of various indicators in the web of societal-biophysical analysis from which the socio-ecological transition could be tracked. Our study creates a framework for defining the safe operating space for humanity in Croatia by setting globally just biophysical and social thresholds, largely following Raworth’s Doughnut model (Raworth, 2018). As the model assumes, sustainability should be tracked by taking three elements into account – biophysical, socioeconomical and sociocultural. To operationalize the sociocultural element of the model we have used social survey data from International Social Survey Programme (specifically module Environment 2010). Results showcase Croatia, as an emerging economy, could either follow the trends of accelerated catch-up with the Global North or shift towards sustainability. Results indicate that Croatia is comparatively socially sustainable but not absolutely environmentally sustainable. The survey results, on the other hand, indicate a fairly low satisfaction of social factors like democracy and inequality and a higher general awareness of the environmental limits of development than is the case with wealthier European countries.
Ms Renata Franc (Institute of Social Sciences Ivo Pilar, Zagreb) - Presenting Author
Ms Marina Maglić (Institute of Social Sciences Ivo Pilar, Zagreb)
Mr Goran Milas (Institute of Social Sciences Ivo Pilar, Zagreb)
Mr Tomislav Pavlović (Institute of Social Sciences Ivo Pilar, Zagreb)
Ms Ines Sučić (Institute of Social Sciences Ivo Pilar, Zagreb)
The CHIEF project (Cultural Heritage and Identities of Europe's Future, EU Horizon2020) investigates young people’s cultural literacy as a process that takes place in diverse educational environments (e.g. schools, families, civic society, (social) media), framed within national and supra-national policy agendas, and shaped by the intergenerational dynamics of re-production of cultural practices, values and attitudes. Its methodological approach involves qualitative and quantitative approaches, as well as, participatory action research (PAR) and ethnographic studies.
The main quantitative element of the project is the survey of cc 2000 secondary school students in 30 schools in each of 9 project countries; seven European (UK, Latvia, Croatia, Georgia, Spain, Slovakia, India, Germany) and two non-European (Turkey, India). The survey focus is on cultural participation among young people, their cultural literacy on national/European cultural heritage, different aspects of inter-cultural dialogue and the importance of ‘European values’ as well individual and contextual (school level) determinants of these phenomena.
This poster will describe challenges in developing common survey questionnaire and national sampling designs, necessary adaptations to specific political, cultural or demographical context in some of the countries. Additionally, the results regarding the cross-cultural validity and equivalence testing for applied and newly developed instruments based on pilot survey conducted in April 2019 will be presented.
Ms Dubravka Sinčić Ćorić (University of Zagreb, Faculty of Economics & Business) - Presenting Author
Ms Martina Mikrut (University of J. J. Strossmayer Osijek, Faculty of Law)
Mr Ante Šalinović (IPSOS)
In a digital world of new opportunities for data gathering, applied social research still strive for measurement procedures that involves asking questions of respondents. Data collection methods together with digital era rapidly evolved over time. High level of the Internet coverage ensured new different channels of two-way communication with potential sample units. Technology moving forward is followed by willingness to participate in research moving backwards. Cost of valid data collection is rising. In times of necessity to collect valid data very fast, having in mind price/quality ratio, online panel became frequent choice of data collection method. Although tracking basic socio-demographic variables and arguing representative sample, practice suggests significant differences in research results due to the different method usage. Still, through firm, verifiable indicators, the validity of some data collection methods can be tested.
Having that in mind, the paper presents the case of time/cost/validity optimization of research methods. The idea is tested and presented conducting Croatian market media habits survey, where online panel data were corrected with CATI method data. It is shown that optimization can be done in such a way that, due to available time and budget, data can be collected with faster but less valid method, collecting key indicators parallel with a higher level of validity method, used to weigh or to correct the deviation of the basic sample.
Mr Ivan Rimac (Faculty of Law, Department of Social Work, University of Zagreb) - Presenting Author
Ms Jelena Ogresta (Faculty of Law, Department of Social Work, University of Zagreb)
In the web survey methodology literature there is still not enough evidence about how informed consent affects survey response rates. The implementation of the General Data Protection Regulation requires from researchers in international surveys to redesign approach to respondents especially in web surveys by facing legal restrictions and higher expectations of respondents regarding privacy issues. In the present work, we examined whether written consent given one year before survey determines the response of survey participants.
Data were used from the EUROGRADUATE pilot online survey that is launched in 2018 and covered graduates one and five years after graduation to monitor the short-term and the mid-term development of graduates. Survey was conducted in 8 countries: Austria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Lithuania, Malta and Norway.
Survey in Croatia was faced with few specific circumstances: graduate tracking was never conducted on nationwide representative sample, there is no national register of graduates, and personal contacts are kept in higher education institutions. With intention to establish national graduate tracking system, Agency for science and higher education (AZVO) started to collect written consents about surveying graduates two years before this project and partly cover population of graduates in previous year targeted in EUROGRADUATE. In this pilot survey, conducted by Faculty of Law and AZVO, we used collected written consents combined with data collected from higher education institutions. All respondents were invited in survey by email, without mentioning previous written consents.
This paper address difference in behavior of respondents in web survey due to previously collected written consents or newly established contact without written consent. Respondent’s behavior was measured by time from invitation to start of questionnaire answering, completion of questionnaire and opt-out demands. As control variables, type of higher education institution and field of study were used as relevant covariates affecting employment rates and frequency of contacting graduates from alumni programs.
Mr Ivan Čipin (University of Zagreb, Faculty of Economics & Business, Department of Demography) - Presenting Author
Ms Petra Međimurec (University of Zagreb, Faculty of Economics & Business, Department of Demography)
Croatia has been facing below-replacement fertility more than half a century, and a birth deficit nearly a quarter of a century. Only a few European countries exhibit similar trends. Fertility developments in Croatia thus require thorough scientific explanation. Contemporary fertility research in Europe very much relies on micro-level data. However, Croatia lacks high quality, probability sample, cross-nationally comparable, longitudinal micro-level data on fertility and family-related topics.
Existing domestic surveys on fertility in Croatia have all used non-probability samples, which makes them inadequate for cross-national comparisons. These surveys have furthermore focused exclusively on either married (Fertility survey of married women in 2003) or employed (Women’s employment and fertility in 2007) women.
Croatia did not participate in the Fertility and Family Survey (FFS), a multi-national, Europe-centred, comparative project, nor in the Population Policy Acceptance Study (PPAS), a cross-sectional survey on Europeans’ practices, attitudes, and opinions concerning demographic change, fertility behaviour, and population-related policies) during the 1990s.
Including Croatia in a cross-national probability sample survey, where fertility is one the core research subjects, would help yield new understandings about low fertility determinants. New directions in fertility research nowadays rely on longitudinal and cross-national comparative data, while cross-sectional one-country studies are becoming obsolete. The most advanced such social science research infrastructure is the Generations and Gender Programme (GGP). Its central component, the Generations and Gender Survey (GGS), covers a broad array of topics relevant to demographers and other social scientists via a multidisciplinary questionnaire.
In 2018, Croatia implemented the GGS as an experimental pilot study with a mixed-mode design. This was the first comparative fertility survey in Croatia that used probability sampling, mixed-mode approach, and unconditional cash incentive. We will present country-specific issues and challenges in implementing this kind of surveys.