=========================================================================== COMPARATIVE STUDY OF ELECTORAL SYSTEMS (CSES) www.cses.org MODULE 6 (2016-2021) METHODOLOGICAL GUIDELINES - January 25, 2022 - =========================================================================== Collaborators in the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems shall adhere to the following standards of data quality: a. Mode of interviewing: Interviews should be conducted face-to-face, unless local circumstances dictate that telephone, Internet, or mail surveys will produce higher quality data. Mixed-mode surveys are acceptable to increase response rates and/or compensate for undercoverage associated with particular survey modes. In cases of mode variation as well as in cases of within-mode variation (e.g. adaption of Internet surveys to multiple devices) presentation of questionnaires to respondents should be as similar as possible. All variation within surveys shall be documented in detail, and technical information on survey mode and, where appropriate, device used shall be identified in the data set for each respondent. National studies should seek to keep mode changes to a minimum to maximize comparability of their data sets across modules. b. Timing of interviewing: We strongly recommend that collaborators in the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems conduct their interviews in the weeks following their national election. Interviewing should not start later than six months after the election. Out of concern for data quality, data collection should be completed in as timely a fashion as possible. In the event of a runoff election, interviewing shall be conducted after the first round election. The date of interview shall be provided for each respondent. c. Placement of module in post-election questionnaire: The questionnaire module should be asked as a single, uninterrupted block of questions. We leave it to each collaborator to select an appropriate location for the module in their national survey instrument. Collaborators should take steps to ensure that questions asked immediately prior to the questionnaire module do not contaminate the initial questions in the module. Collaborators are also free to select an appropriate place in their survey instrument to ask the turnout, vote choice, and demographic questions. d. Population to be sampled: National samples should be drawn from all age-eligible citizens. No sampling frames with systematic undercoverage of significant population groups (such as citizens without access to the Internet) are acceptable. When non-citizens (or other non-eligible respondents) are included in the sample, a variable should be provided to permit the identification of those non-eligible respondents. When a collaborator samples from those persons who appear on voter registration lists, the collaborator should quantify the estimated degree of discrepancy between this population and the population of all age-eligible citizens. Studies based on panels or access panels are acceptable if dictated by local circumstances. In such cases the collaborator should seek to minimize the time lag between initial sampling and the CSES survey and quantify the estimated degree of discrepancy to the population of all age-eligible citizens and provide weights. Details about initial sampling must be documented. e. Sampling procedures: We strongly encourage the use of random samples, with random sampling procedures used at all stages of the sampling process. Collaborators should provide detailed documentation of their sampling practices for all stages. f. Sample Size: We strongly recommend that no fewer than 1,500 age-eligible respondents be interviewed, and under no circumstances should fewer than 1,000 age-eligible respondents be interviewed. g. Interviewer training: Collaborators should pre-test their survey instrument and should train interviewers in the administration of the questionnaire. The Planning Committee will provide each collaborator with documentation that clarifies the purposes and objectives of each item and with rules with respect to probing "don't know" responses. h. Field practices: Collaborators should make every effort to ensure a high response rate. Investigators should be diligent in their effort to reach respondents not interviewed on the initial contact with the household and should be diligent in their effort to convert respondents who initially refuse to participate in the study. Data on the number of contact attempts, the number of contacts with sample persons, and special persuasion or conversion efforts undertaken should be coded for each respondent. i. Strategies for translation (and back-translation): Each collaborator should translate the questionnaire module into their native language(s). To ensure the equivalence of the translation, collaborators shall perform an independent re-translation of the questionnaire back into English. Collaborators engaged in translation of the questionnaire module into the same language (e.g., Spanish, French, English, German, and Portuguese) should collaborate on the translation. //END OF DOCUMENT