A Panel Study of the Dynamics of Change

University Of Maryland, College Park, College Park MD

Investigators

Abstract

In this project the third wave of a panel survey concerning the community orientation, culture, and engagements of three communities in the midst of social transformations will be collected. Those surveyed are representative samples from each community, who were interviewed in the first wave in 2011-2013 and re-interviewed in the second wave in 2015-2016. The series of observations over time will enable assessment of the significance of personal experiences and major events in prompting individuals to change orientations. The data that this project collects will expand the infrastructure for the diversification of the educational curriculum, benefit other researchers, and are useful for instructional purposes in the classrooms. The insights provided by this project may inform national security. Appropriately modified questions from previous waves will be used for the third survey after testing to ensure they are understood properly. Respondents from the second wave of the survey, over 2,000 for each community, will be re-interviewed with various measures used to minimize attrition, including use of the same interviewers where possible. Indices will be constructed in order to examine trends in key concepts. Fixed effects statistical models will be used to examine causal relationships. 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.