Using Panel Surveys to Study Values and Beliefs in Times of Crisis |
|
| Coordinator 1 | Professor Kazimierz Slomczynski (IFiS PAN, CONSIRT and OSU) |
| Coordinator 2 | Professor Irina Tomescu-Dubrow (IFiS PAN and CONSIRT) |
Evidence from cross-sectional surveys suggests that, in times of crisis, values and beliefs change, on an aggregate level, substantially. Some values and beliefs, such as family-oriented, polarize people but some, such as national security, unify people. Yet, to understand to what extent such and similar changes result from within-person or inter-person differences calls for panel survey data. Panel data are ideally suited for analyzing how differences in experiencing crisis situations – such as pandemics, rapid inflation, political turmoil, and various types of natural disasters – matter for stability and change in peoples’ values and beliefs. Are such changes enduring, once the crisis ends? If so, for whom, and under what conditions?
For this session, we invite both methodological and substantive papers. Methodologically oriented papers could focus on the intricacies of statistical modeling of change in values and beliefs. Is structural equation modeling an appropriate tool, or should we go beyond it and look at truly dynamic models? Methodological innovations in studying changes in values and beliefs are welcome. We also seek substantive papers that use panel data to examine how crises impact specific values and beliefs and for whom, whether some values and beliefs contribute to the polarization of social groups, or they bring groups together, etc. Cross-national insights - based on data from a common project or from projects conducted independently in different countries – are especially welcome.