Treischl E, Wolbring T (2022)
Publication Language: English
Publication Type: Journal article, Original article
Publication year: 2022
Book Volume: 16
Pages Range: 141-170
Journal Issue: 2
DOI: 10.12758/mda.2021.07
Factorial survey experiments (FSEs) are increasingly used in the social sciences. This paper
provides a review about the use of FSEs and aims to answer three research questions.
(1) How has this specific research field developed over time? (2) Which methodological
advances have been made in FSE research and to what degree are they applied in empirical
studies? (3) Which questions remain unresolved and should be addressed in future research?
Using the Web of Science and Scopus databases, we conducted a literature review
of FSEs published between 1982 and 2018. Our findings show that the field is developing
quickly and that FSEs are becoming increasingly accepted in different research areas.
Thereby, FSEs are being widely used not only to study attitudes, but also to explore the
determinants of behaviour. Most research applies state-of-the-art techniques in terms of
statistical analysis; however, to a lesser extent, studies rely on more sophisticated sampling
procedures to draw samples from a large vignette universe. Finally, several methodological
questions remain unresolved concerning the realism and complexity of vignettes, social
desirability, and the predictive validity of FSEs regarding behaviour due to their hypothetical
nature. Against this background, we call for more methodological research to assess the
general applicability of FSEs for different research areas. Further, our review suggests the
need for better documentation and reporting standards to evaluate methodological aspects
of FSEs.
APA:
Treischl, E., & Wolbring, T. (2022). The Past, Present and Future of Factorial Survey Experiments: A Review for the Social Sciences. Methods, data, analyses, 16(2), 141-170. https://dx.doi.org/10.12758/mda.2021.07
MLA:
Treischl, Edgar, and Tobias Wolbring. "The Past, Present and Future of Factorial Survey Experiments: A Review for the Social Sciences." Methods, data, analyses 16.2 (2022): 141-170.
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