While the list experiment results are lower than what we see in direct questioning, they still indicate high levels of popular support, at around 62-77%. This is much higher than the levels of support for government we see in the United States (33%), France (31%) and Britain (29%), according to the most recent World Value Survey results. And it is higher even than what we see in the Scandinavian countries, which otherwise enjoy among the highest results in the world: Denmark (39%), Finland (42%), Norway (59%), Sweden (51%).
Yep, however from the article itself “List experiments have their own problems, however: researchers have found that because the questioning technique is more complicated, it introduces unintended reporting errors that may even outstrip errors from strategic misreporting. In other words, it may be that simpler direct questioning methods produce more accurate results.”
It also goes into other methodologies based on this bias and if the bias even exists in the first place and at the end they conclude:
In other words, people in China do not seem to self-censor based on fear. The authors conclude: “Across a variety of studies using different methodologies, a good deal of evidence suggests that the Chinese people are willing to answer politically sensitive questions in a truthful manner.”
So, the questionaire results seem trustworthy still and the list experiment results might have a “wtf are they even asking me” bias (and still come out ahead of every other country).
Here’s a good blogpost by Jason Hickel (the good one) that talks about possible skewed data and such: Support for government in China: is the data accurate?
Yep, however from the article itself “List experiments have their own problems, however: researchers have found that because the questioning technique is more complicated, it introduces unintended reporting errors that may even outstrip errors from strategic misreporting. In other words, it may be that simpler direct questioning methods produce more accurate results.”
It also goes into other methodologies based on this bias and if the bias even exists in the first place and at the end they conclude:
In other words, people in China do not seem to self-censor based on fear. The authors conclude: “Across a variety of studies using different methodologies, a good deal of evidence suggests that the Chinese people are willing to answer politically sensitive questions in a truthful manner.”
So, the questionaire results seem trustworthy still and the list experiment results might have a “wtf are they even asking me” bias (and still come out ahead of every other country).