Can We Improve the Measurement of Attitudes Towards the Welfare State? A Constructive Critique of Survey Instruments with Evidence from Focus Groups

There is a large and growing literature on welfare state attitudes, most of which is built on random-sample population surveys
with standardised closed-question items. This article criticises the existing survey instruments, especially those that are
used within the International Social Survey Programme, in a novel approach with focus group data from Germany. The article
demonstrates: firstly, these instruments underestimate the inconsistency (the degree to which attitudes logically contradict
each other), the uncertainty (the degree to which individuals are unsure about what to think), the ambivalence (the simultaneous
occurrence of positive and negative reactions) and non-attitudes towards welfare state activities that common people have.
Secondly, the meaning of these items to respondents seems to vary to such an extent that inference based on such measures
is questionable. Finally, the article concludes by suggesting some survey instruments that alleviate these measurement problems.