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Strategies for Measuring Influence over State Agencies

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 January 2021

Nelson C. Dometrius ,
Brendan F. Burke  and
Deil S. Wright
Nelson C. Dometrius
Affiliation:
Texas Tech University
Brendan F. Burke
Affiliation:
Suffolk University
Deil S. Wright
Affiliation:
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
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Abstract

In the summer 2006 edition of State Politics and Policy Quarterly, Michael Baranowski and Donald Gross examined two methods of measuring influence over state agency activities: freestanding versus paired comparison. Their analysis led them to conclude that the paired-comparison measures might be theoretically superior, but are often impractical. Using the American State Administrator Project (ASAP) surveys, we supplement Baranowski and Gross's analysis by identifying conditions that sometimes make freestanding instruments superior measures and, at other times, paired comparisons both superior and practical to use.

Type
The Practical Researcher
Information
State Politics & Policy Quarterly , Volume 8 , Issue 1 , Spring 2008 , pp. 88 - 100
Copyright
Copyright © 2008 by the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois

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