Measuring Political Attitudes With Word Association

88 Pages Posted: 5 Nov 2020 Last revised: 19 Dec 2023

See all articles by Ze Han

Ze Han

Princeton University - Department of Politics

Rory Truex

Princeton University - Department of Political Science

Naijia Liu

Harvard University - Department of Government

Date Written: September 29, 2020

Abstract

This paper advances the use of Word Association Tests (WATs), where respondents are presented with a series of cue words and asked to provide other words that come to mind as quickly as possible. Compared to standard approaches, WATs more directly map to psychologists' understanding of the human mind. The paper develops and demonstrates the utility of word association through an analysis of Chinese citizens' attitudes towards the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Empirically we show how the collective "mental map" of the population tends to reflect regime narratives. Citizens that are CCP members and more educated are more likely to reproduce regime language. The paper provides a "how to" guide for other political science researchers seeking to use word association.

Keywords: Word Association Test, survey, public opinion, sensitive questions, China

Suggested Citation

Han, Ze and Truex, Rory and Liu, Naijia, Measuring Political Attitudes With Word Association (September 29, 2020). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3701860 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3701860

Ze Han

Princeton University - Department of Politics ( email )

001 Fisher Hall
Princeton, NJ 08544-1012
United States

Rory Truex (Contact Author)

Princeton University - Department of Political Science ( email )

Corwin Hall
Princeton, NJ 08544-1012
United States

Naijia Liu

Harvard University - Department of Government ( email )

1737 Cambridge Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

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