Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rcrh6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-26T12:05:09.944Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Validating Vignette Designs with Real-world Data: A Study of Legal Mobilization in Response to Land Grievances in Rural China

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 June 2020

Susan H. Whiting  and
Xiao Ma
Susan H. Whiting
Affiliation:
University of Washington. Email: [email protected].
Xiao Ma*
Affiliation:
Peking University
*
Email: [email protected] (corresponding author).
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

How well do vignette designs capture actual behaviour in the real world? This study employs original survey data featuring both hypothetical vignettes and behavioural questions in order to assess the external validity of descriptive and causal inferences in survey experiments. The survey was conducted in a three-province, probability-proportional-to-size sample of 1,897 rural residents in China and focuses on the legal mobilization of citizens in response to grievances involving land rights. In terms of descriptive inference, we find that relative to the behavioural benchmark, hypothetical vignettes significantly over-estimate legal mobilization in response to a grievance, particularly for higher-cost actions like petitioning the government and litigating in court. We find that data from hypothetical vignettes affect causal inference as well, producing significantly different results regarding the effect of political connections and legal knowledge on legal mobilization. The study makes a contribution by identifying conditions under which hypothetical vignettes are less likely to produce valid inference. It engages a rich literature on disputing and legal mobilization in the field of Chinese politics and helps to resolve debates over the role of political connections and legal knowledge.

摘要

摘要

问卷调查中的情境设计多大程度上能反映现实世界中的行为？本研究采用一个同时包含了虚拟情境和真实行为问题的原创性问卷，分析情境设计在获得描述统计和因果推论分析中的外部效度。该问卷采用按规模大小成比例的概率抽样法，在中国的三个省份调查了 1897 名农村居民，问题主要涵盖了农村居民在涉及土地权利纠纷时的法律动员状况。我们发现，相比在现实中遭遇土地纠纷的受访者，那些在情境题中被问及会如何回应虚拟的土地纠纷的受访者有更高的比例愿意采用法律手段解决纠纷，特别是那些施行成本较高的手段，比如上访或起诉。除了描述统计上的差异，我们发现情境设计同样影响了因果推论分析，例如政治关系和法律知识是否对采取法律手段产生影响。本研究的主要贡献在于阐明了情境设计在何种条件下使用更为有效。此外本文也与中国政治领域中关于纠纷和法律动员的丰富文献进行对话，并尝试回应文献中围绕政治关系和法律知识的作用的讨论。

Keywords

surveyvignetteexperimentvalidationlegal mobilizationlanddisputeChina问卷调查情境设计实验研究有效性法律动员土地纠纷中国
Type
Research Report
Information
The China Quarterly , Volume 246 , June 2021 , pp. 586 - 601
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © SOAS University of London, 2020.

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ang, Yuen Yuen, and Jia, Nan. 2014. “Perverse complementarity: political connections and the use of courts among private firms in China.” Journal of Politics 76(2), 318–332.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bernstein, Robert, Chadha, Anita and Montjoy, Robert. 2001. “Overreporting voting: why it happens and why it matters.” Public Opinion Quarterly 65(1), 22–44.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cheng, Jinhua. 2009. “Zhongguo xingzheng jiufen jiejue de zhidu xuanze: yi gongmin xuqiu wei shijiao” (Institutional options for administrative disputes in China: from the perspective of the needs of the public). Zhongguo shehui kexue 6, 144–160.Google Scholar
Cheng, Jinhua, and Wu, Xiaogang. 2010. “Shehui jieceng yu minshi jiufen de jiejue: zhuanxing shiqi Zhongguo de shehui fenhua yu fazhi fazhan” (Social class and civic dispute resolution: social differentiation and legal development in transitional China). Shehuixue yanjiu 2, 151–179.Google Scholar
Deng, Yanhua, and O'Brien, Kevin J.. 2013. “Relational repression in China: using social ties to demobilize protestors.” The China Quarterly 215, 533–552.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gallagher, Mary E. 2017. Authoritarian Legality in China: Law, Workers and the State. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gallagher, Mary E., and Wang, Yuhua. 2011. “Users and non-users: legal experience and its effect on legal consciousness.” In Woo, Margaret Y.K. and Gallagher, Mary E. (eds.), Chinese Justice: Civil Dispute Resolution in Contemporary China. New York: Cambridge University Press, 204–233.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hainmueller, Jens, Hangartner, Dominik and Yamamoto, Teppei. 2015. “Validating vignette and conjoint survey experiments against real-world behavior.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 112(8), 2395–2400.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hsieh, John Fuh-sheng, and Niou, Emerson M.S.. 2005. “Measuring Taiwanese public opinion on Taiwanese independence.” The China Quarterly 181, 158–168.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ieong, Meng U. 2019. “‘Know who’ may be better than ‘know how’: political connections and reactions in administrative disputes in China.” Journal of Chinese Governance 4(3), 233–251.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
King, Gary, Tomz, Michael and Wittenberg, Jason. 2000. “Making the most of statistical analyses: improving interpretation and presentation.” American Journal of Political Science 44(2), 341–355.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Louviere, Jordan J., and Hensher, David A.. 2000. Stated Choice Methods Analysis and Applications. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Martin, Elizabeth. 2006. “Vignettes and respondent debriefings for questionnaire design and evaluation.” Research Report Series, Survey Methodology No. 2006–8. Washington, DC: US Bureau of the Census.Google Scholar
Michelson, Ethan. 2007. “Climbing the dispute pagoda: grievances and appeals to the official justice system in rural China.” American Sociological Review 72(3), 459–485.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Michelson, Ethan, and Read, Benjamin L.. 2011. “Public attitudes toward official justice in Beijing and rural China.” In Woo, Margaret Y.K. and Gallagher, Mary E. (eds.), Chinese Justice: Civil Dispute Resolution in Contemporary China. New York: Cambridge University Press, 169–203.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miller, Richard E., and Sarat, Austin. 1980–81. “Grievances, claims, and disputes: assessing the adversary culture.” Law and Society Review 15(3–4), 525–566.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mize, Trenton D., Doan, Long and Long, J. Scott. 2019. “A general framework for comparing predictions and marginal effects across models.” Sociological Methodology 49(1), 152–189.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Muise, Daniel, and Pan, Jennifer. 2018. “Online field experiments.” Asian Journal of Communication. doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/01292986.2018.1453850.Google Scholar
Shen, Mingming, and Wang, Yuhua. 2009. “Litigating economic disputes in rural China.” China Review 9(1), 97–121.Google Scholar
Tsai, Lily L., and Xu, Yiqing. 2018. “Outspoken insiders: political connections and citizen participation in authoritarian China.” Political Behavior 40, 629–657.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wang, Yuhua. 2015. Tying the Autocrat's Hands: The Rise of the Rule of Law in China. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Whiting, Susan H. 2017. “Authoritarian ‘rule of law’ and regime legitimacy.” Comparative Political Studies 50(14), 1907–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wu, Xiaogang, and Cheng, Jinhua. 2013. “The emerging new middle class and the rule of law in China.” China Review 13(1), 43–70.Google Scholar