Who is Willing to Answer Open-ended Questions on the Meaning of Left and Right?

Abstract

The left-right dimension plays an important role in a wide range of political science studies, and analyses are sometimes based on responses to open-ended survey questions about the meaning of left and right. Due to a considerable non-response to these questions on the 2008 German General Social Survey, the value of the data needs to be evaluated, and response analysis is recommended before Germany’s ideological beliefs are analysed. This paper investigates whether or not respondents’ personality traits, cognitive abilities and socialisation, motivation, and left-right self-placement affect response behaviour to our open-ended questions. We found several explanatory variables: a left-right self-placement, its ideological direction, an Eastern German socialisation background, a high level of education and a strong political interest. These findings indicate that, in addition to methodological issues, substantial variables matter in response behaviour in technical terms, and ideological analysts should consider if their findings can be generalised for the entire German population.