ERIC Number: EJ1281922
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2021-Feb
Pages: 38
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0049-1241
EISSN: N/A
Uncovering the Nexus between Attitudes, Preferences, and Behavior in Sociological Applications of Stated Choice Experiments
Liebe, Ulf; Mariel, Petr; Beyer, Heiko; Meyerhoff, Jürgen
Sociological Methods & Research, v50 n1 p310-347 Feb 2021
Multifactorial survey experiments such as stated choice experiments are used more and more frequently in social science research. In this article, based on an experimental study on ethical and political consumption, we explore the potential of hybrid choice models to explicitly model latent psychological factors such as attitudes, overcoming a possible endogeneity bias and misrepresentation of causality. To this end, we employ a hybrid latent class choice model (HLCCM) in which the latent class structure allocates individuals to classes according to underlying latent attitudes that also influence the answers to attitudinal questions. This allows, in line with sociological action theories, a theory-guided testing of preference segmentation and modification caused by attitudes. We compare the complex HLCCM with less complex models that do not take the latent variable nature of attitudes into account and discuss in which cases less complex models might be more appropriate. However, the HLCCM always has the advantage of providing structure for theory testing and is therefore a useful tool to uncover preference heterogeneity, preference modification, and decision-making processes in sociological and other social science research.
Descriptors: Attitudes, Preferences, Behavior, Surveys, Social Science Research, Classification, Models, Sociology, Selection, Theories, Ethics, Political Attitudes, Foreign Countries
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Germany; Middle East
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A