M.A. (Political Science) / Recent studies in a diversity of social science disciplines indicate the growing importance of cross-cultural attitude surveys; and the central theme of this dissertation is the methodological implications thereof. This study aims (1) to make a contribution to the relatively small number of studies ,in South-Africa on the subject of Political Science research methodology, and' (2) to analyze systematically the methodological problems of cross-cultural research into political attitudes. The research problem was formulated as follows: How should cross-cultural survey research of a political nature be planned, structured and conducted to ensure reliability, validity and objectivity? The focus throughout the dissertation, was on two dimensions of the research process namely (1) research design and (2) data-collection, the latter being further divided in two main categories: instrument construction and instrument implementation. A theoretical framework (Chapter 2) was developed incorporating the different methodological factors to be taken into: account when designing and implementing a research project. This framework was applied to (1) survey research in general (Chapter 3), and (2) cross-cultural political attitude surveys (Chapter 4), Special attention was given to research conducted in South Africa. The last chapter contains (1) a summary of the most important considerations relevant to cross-cultural attitude research, and (2) an overview of the main problems of cross-cultural political attitude research in South Africa. The main finding of the study is that in cross-cultural attitude research in South Africa, too little attention is given to methodological issues - both in designing and implementing research projects. In particular, the explication of methodological issues and procedures in research articles and reports is recommended.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:uj/uj:13395 |
| Date | 02 March 2015 |
| Creators | Norval, Aletta Jacoba |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Rights | University of Johannesburg |
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