Opinion Instability and Measurement Errors: A G-Theory Analysis of College Students

ABSTRACT

This study examines opinion instability among individuals from different ethnic groups (White, Latino, and Asian Americans) by analyzing measurement errors in survey measures. Using a multi-wave panel dataset of college students and employing generalizability theory, the study uncovers significant patterns. The results reveal that White students exhibit higher attitude reliability, characterized by larger variances in true opinions and smaller measurement errors. In contrast, Latino and Asian American students display lower attitude stability, with lower variances in true opinions and higher variances in both item-specific and measurement errors. Disparities in political socialization and issue concerns contribute to the observed attitude instability among Latino and Asian American students. Moreover, Asian American and Latino respondents require a greater number of survey items to mitigate measurement error compared to their White counterparts. However, the impact of multiple waves of surveys on improving reliability is limited for Latino and Asian American students compared to White students. These findings deepen our understanding of attitude stability across ethnic groups and underscore the importance of further research in this area.

KEYWORDS:

• G theory
• public opinion
• measurement error
• longitudinal study

Acknowledgments

This research began as a term paper in a graduate seminar at the UCLA Graduate School of Education & Information Studies. I am grateful to Prof. Noreen Wedd for teaching me G-theory and for her valuable comments in the early stages of this research.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplementary data

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/15366367.2024.2366553.