+++ Apologies for cross-posting +++

We invite subnissions to the session

'Testing the Behavioral Validity of Survey Experiments'

at the 7th Conference of the European Survey Research Association (ESRA), Lisbon, Portugal, July 17th-21st, 2017. The deadline for paper abstracts is December 4th, 2016.

Many survey experiments, such as factorial surveys, conjoint analyses or choice experiments are designed to measure behavioral intentions. However, there is an ongoing discussion how well intentions measured by such experiments correspond with actual behavior. Especially, it remains an important open research question how and to what extent the levels and determinants of behavioral intentions and choices made in actual decision situations are related.

Even given high quality measurements of intentions by survey experiments testing the behavioral validity of these intentions is challenging. First, actual behavioral alternatives are restricted by non-experimental set environmental conditions. Hence, the relevance of intentions for behavioral outcomes depends on the situational context. Second, survey data on behavioral outcomes are often prone to unobserved heterogeneity. Finally, it is often a practical challenge to collect data on intentions and comparable actual behavior, in particular of the same sample of participants.

This session addresses issues linked to cross-validating experimentally measured intentions in surveys with corresponding behavioral data. Welcome are all contributions discussing theoretical models, empirical designs, analytic strategies and exemplary applications aiming to overcome related problems. In particular we invite papers dealing with at least one of the following questions:

• Which theoretical models are useful to specify the relationship between intentions and actual behavior in a general and empirical testable fashion? • Which empirical designs can help to test the behavioral validity of intentions? • Which data sources can serve as behavioral benchmark for validating intentions? • What are the advantages and limitations of a validation strategy using declared behavior in surveys? • What are the advantages and limitations of a validation strategy using observed behavior in laboratory or field experiments? • What are the advantages and limitations of a validation strategy using observed behavior in natural situations? • Which validation strategies are appropriate in which circumstances? • In which situations and under which conditions is it appropriate to measure behavioral intentions using survey experiments?

The paper abstracts for the 7th ESRA conference consist of a short abstract (max. 100 words) and a long abstract (max. 500 words) and the deadline for paper abstract submissions is December 4th, 2016.

To submit a paper abstract for this session please create an account and log in to the ESRA conference management system at http://www.europeansurveyresearch.org/conferences/register , create a new paper abstract, choose “experiments” as topic area and select “Testing the Behavioral Validity of Survey Experiments” from the list of available sessions.

Knut Petzold & Volker Lang