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Multi-Item Scale:

Now various statements follow that some people agree with, but others disagree with. What about you? For each statement, please indicate the extent to which you agree or disagree with it.<br> <i>[Nun folgen verschiedene Aussagen, denen manche Leute zustimmen, die andere aber auch ablehnen. Wie ist das bei Ihnen? Geben Sie bitte zu jeder Aussage an, inwieweit Sie ihr zustimmen oder nicht.]</i>

Item Text:

a. Troublemakers should be shown clearly that they are unwanted in society. [Unruhestifter sollten deutlich zu spüren bekommen, dass sie in der Gesellschaft unerwünscht sind.]

Different Answer Format Tested:

Nein

Findings:

How do respondents interpret the term "troublemaker"?
Half of the respondents agreed "rather" (n = 3) or "completely" (n = 2 ) with the statement, two respondents placed themselves in the middle answer category, and three respondents "rather disagreed" (n = 2) or "completely disagreed" (n = 1) with the statement, so there is a slight tendency toward agreement.
The majority (n = 6 ) of the test persons understood the term "troublemakers" to mean criminals, delinquents, troublemakers, activists and demonstrators ready to use violence:
  • "Criminals, thugs. That's what I thought of. Or people who incite others." (TP 07)
  • "The people who incite, panic. Or just with the lateral thinking movement. To me, those are troublemakers. Or with the Corona opponents." (TP 08)
  • "Troublemakers to me are lawbreakers. To me, those are the people who chained themselves to any highways with bright enthusiasm today or yesterday." (TP 09)
  • "People with revolutionary drives who take to the streets." (TP 10)
Another part of the test persons (TP 03, 04, 06, 09) found the term "troublemakers" unclear/imprecise and had stumbled over it while answering the question themselves:
  • "Well, the term troublemaker is difficult to grasp, also the terminology that someone is undesirable is difficult to grasp. It's understood directly that maybe someone should be deported. [...] I don't know if the question really describes what it wants." (TP 03)
  • "Exactly, that's what I stumbled upon. Troublemakers - that can be all kinds of things. It can be any kind of criminal offenders or those who only cause trouble. They can be minor offenses. [...]" (TP 06)
For the most part, the term "troublemakers" was understood to mean people who were outside the democratic rules, but people who were within the democratic rules were also mentioned. The understanding of the term had no systematic influence on the answer to the question.

Recommendations:

Since the test persons understood the term "troublemakers" to mean both people who move outside the democratic rules and those who move within the democratic rules, we recommend specifying the term.

Question tested:

false