A More Representative Sample?: Using Public Petition Data to Identify Political Activists

• In Event: 219 - Regular Session. Social Movement Participation and Methods

Abstract

How might researchers identify political activist populations operating within social and political movements or campaigns? This problem has presented a major obstacle for those interested in pursuing quantitative studies of social and political activists. Researchers have traditionally relied on small convenience samples and qualitative studies to study activists in order to develop theory and describe activities. Yet, without more representative samples of activists, testing these theories and making generalizations becomes difficult. We propose that a possible solution to this problem is to use data from public petitions in order to create samples of activists to survey and study. These petitions offer researchers a wealth of data that are public, cover varied issues, and could provide larger sample sizes to analyze. Furthermore, by focusing our resources on surveying people who engage in one of the lowest-cost forms of political activism, we may be able to gain a more representative view of differences that drive higher levels of political activism and better understand the contribution these lower levels of activism play in the political process overall.

Authors

• Rachel M. Durso, Washington College

• S. Matthew Stearmer, Ohio State Univerity

• J. Craig Jenkins, Ohio State University

• Andrew W. Martin, The Ohio State University