Book contents
- Varieties of Democracy
- Varieties of Democracy
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Contributors
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Conceptual Scheme
- 3 Data Collection
- 4 The Measurement Model and Reliability
- 5 Dimensions and Components of Democracy
- 6 Data Validation
- 7 Explanatory Analysis with Varieties of Democracy Data
- References
- Index
6 - Data Validation
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 January 2020
- Varieties of Democracy
- Varieties of Democracy
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Contributors
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Conceptual Scheme
- 3 Data Collection
- 4 The Measurement Model and Reliability
- 5 Dimensions and Components of Democracy
- 6 Data Validation
- 7 Explanatory Analysis with Varieties of Democracy Data
- References
- Index
Summary
Scholars and policy makers need systematic assessments of the validity of the measures produced by V-Dem. In Chapter 6, we present our approach to comparative data validation – the set of steps we take to evaluate the precision, accuracy, and reliability of our measures, both in isolation and compared to extant measures of the same concepts. Our approach assesses the degree to which measures align with shared concepts (content validation), shared rules of translation (data generation assessment), and shared realities (convergent validation). Within convergent validity, we execute two convergent validity tests. First, we examine convergent validity as it is typically conceived – examining convergence between V-Dem measures and extant measures. Second, we evaluate the level of convergence across coders, considering the individual coder and country traits that predict coder convergence. Throughout the chapter, we focus on three indices included in the V-Dem data set: polyarchy, corruption, and core civil society. These three concepts collectively provide a “hard test” for the validity of our data, representing a range of existing measurement approaches, challenges, and solutions.
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- Information
- Varieties of DemocracyMeasuring Two Centuries of Political Change, pp. 130 - 177Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2020