Doctoral Dissertation Research: Public Views about Economic Inequality and Government Policies

本研究将大规模抽样调查作为衡量公众对经济不平等和政府政策的看法的工具。PI访问了美国的三个州（南卡罗来纳、西弗吉尼亚和佛蒙特州），与来自不同背景的人交谈，了解他们的态度。通过收集来自全国不同角落和不同经济地位的一系列观点，该项目旨在深入了解公民如何用自己的话看待经济不平等，以及他们对政府应对公民面临的经济挑战的方式的看法。在这个项目中，PI试图更好地理解关于不平等和旨在减少不平等的政府措施的观点背后的因果机制。从理论上讲，美国人相信有条件的平等，只要他们认为受益者是“像我这样的人”，他们就支持平等政策。假设公众希望政府在某些情况下做得更多，在其他情况下做得更少。该项目的实地工作涉及多种类型的数据收集，包括焦点小组和对当地居民的深入访谈，并借鉴了实证主义和解释主义的方法方法。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This research studies mass sample surveys as tools for measuring public opinion about economic inequality and government policies. The PI visits three American states (South Carolina, West Virginia, and Vermont) to talk to individuals from a variety of backgrounds regarding their attitudes. Through gathering a range of perspectives from different corners of the country and across economic status, this project seeks to gain insights into how citizens view economic inequality in their own words, as well as their beliefs about ways in which the government should address economic challenges facing citizens. In this project, the PI seeks to better understand the causal mechanisms underlying views about inequality and government measures aimed at decreasing inequality. It is theorized that Americans believe in conditional equality, where they support equalizing policies as long as they perceive the beneficiaries as "people like me." It is hypothesized the public prefers the government to do more in some circumstances and less in others. The fieldwork for the project involves multiple types of data collection, including focus groups and in-depth interviews with local residents, and draws on both positivist and interpretivist methodological approaches.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.