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Scholars have noted the importance of examining active information avoidance of partisan media in addition to seeking out these sources of information. However, one weakness with this extant line of research is how scholars have assessed active avoidance. In particular, the research utilizing survey data has generally measured information avoidance by applying bi-polar scales that assess use or lack of use of partisan media. The issue is that this assessment of avoidance could conflate those individuals who actively avoid partisan media and those who do not use news content. In this paper, we assess whether our measures of active partisan avoidance are separate concepts from use of these same outlets. We also evaluate the validity of these measures. In general, our results show that measuring avoidance as a distinct concept could be a better assessment of this concept than simply considering use of these outlets.
Jay D. Hmielowski, Washington State U
Stephanie Gibbons, Washington State University
Michael A. Beam, Kent State U.
Myiah J Hutchens, Washington State U