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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:

d. Ordinary citizens share the same values and interests. [Gewöhnliche Bürger teilen dieselben Werte und Interessen.]

Different Answer Format Tested:

Nein

Findings:

What do respondents mean by "ordinary citizens"?
Four respondents "rather disagreed" (n = 3 ) or "completely disagreed" (n = 1) with the statement, four others "neither disagreed nor agreed", one respondent selected "rather agree" and another said she could not specify: "'The normal citizens' - [...] that's just stupid. I can't answer that because I don't know what is meant by 'normal' in that case." (TP 05) Three other test persons (TP 01, 06, 09) also stated that they had had problems with the question or wording:
  • "Can't do anything with it. I don't know what a 'normal citizen' is. I don't know, probably kind of the typical working class, not necessarily educated citizen. I can't do that much with the [question]. They can't [have] the same value[s] for me because they are individual people, they can't be the same at all." (TP 01)
  • "There are adjectives missing. The same political values maybe, or the same sporting values. [...] They have the same basic consensus when it comes to social values, but how they live them out is a world of difference. It's about democracy or freedom, for example. Freedom is important to me; I live it out differently than someone else. One person says freedom is being able to cheat, the other says freedom for me is being able to express my political opinion. [...] I think the fourth question is nonsense. Nothing can come out of that." (TP 09)
Under "normal citizen" the test persons understood again above all the normal consumer, the aver-age citizen from the working class group:
  • "The average, so to speak, normal citizen, the law-abiding, the worker, the normal society." (TP 06)
  • "Normal citizens, who just don't stand out with any agitation or nasty stuff, who go about their work normally and don't exactly stand out." (TP 08)
Other test persons generally included all German citizens and democratically minded people:
  • "For me, normal citizens are all people with [a] citizenship in Germany, that is, [with] German citizenship." (TP 03)
  • "Citizens, oh wonder, who stand on the free, democratic basic order, that is, on the constitutional state." (TP 10)

Recommendations:

We propose the following rewording:

"The majority of society shares the same values and interests in Germany."