IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/somere/v52y2023i2p803-840.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Methodological Issues When Interpreting Changes in Social Phenomena Over Time: Perceptions of Relative Difference, Absolute Difference, and Time Distance

Author

Listed:
  • Katja Prevodnik
  • Vasja Vehovar

Abstract

When comparing social science phenomena through a time perspective, absolute and relative difference (RD) are the two typical presentation formats used to communicate interpretations to the audience, while time distance (TD) is the least frequently used of such formats. This article argues that the chosen presentation format is extremely important because the various formats suggest different substantive interpretations. To elaborate upon this issue, researchers from the National Statistical Office, National Health Institute, and general academia were invited to participate in an experiment with alternative presentation formats that describe changes in certain social science phenomena over time. The results revealed a prevailing tendency of respondents to rely on interpretations related to absolute differences, which was additionally reinforced with graphical presentation formats. Therefore, whenever RD or TD is more proper for substantive interpretations, the corresponding presentation format must be designed with special attention.

Suggested Citation

  • Katja Prevodnik & Vasja Vehovar, 2023. "Methodological Issues When Interpreting Changes in Social Phenomena Over Time: Perceptions of Relative Difference, Absolute Difference, and Time Distance," Sociological Methods & Research, , vol. 52(2), pages 803-840, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:somere:v:52:y:2023:i:2:p:803-840
    DOI: 10.1177/0049124120914948
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0049124120914948
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0049124120914948?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Azar, Ofer H., 2011. "Do people think about absolute or relative price differences when choosing between substitute goods?," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 450-457, June.
    2. Sicherl, Pavle, 1973. "Time-Distance as a Dynamic Measure of Disparities in Social and Economic Development," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(3), pages 559-575.
    3. Peter Svedberg, 2004. "World Income Distribution: Which Way?," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(5), pages 1-32.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Douven, Rudy & van der Heijden, Ron & McGuire, Thomas & Schut, Frederik, 2020. "Premium levels and demand response in health insurance: relative thinking and zero-price effects," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 180(C), pages 903-923.
    2. Clark, Derek J. & Mathisen, Terje Andreas, 2020. "Salience in a simple transport market," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    3. Toshiaki Iizuka & Hitoshi Shigeoka, 2018. "Free for Children? Patient Cost-sharing and Healthcare Utilization," NBER Working Papers 25306, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Inderst, Roman & Obradovits, Martin, 2019. "Competitive Strategies when Consumers are Relative Thinkers: Implications for Pricing, Promotions, and Product Choice," EconStor Preprints 253658, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    5. Azar, Ofer H., 2014. "Optimal strategy of multi-product retailers with relative thinking and reference prices," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 130-140.
    6. Nash, Jane Gradwohl & Rosenthal, Robert A., 2014. "An investigation of the endowment effect in the context of a college housing lottery," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 74-82.
    7. Azar, Ofer H., 2013. "Competitive strategy when consumers are affected by reference prices," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 327-340.
    8. Ewa Aksman, 2017. "Do Poverty and Income Inequality Affect Public Debt?," Gospodarka Narodowa. The Polish Journal of Economics, Warsaw School of Economics, issue 6, pages 79-93.
    9. Imbriani, Cesare & Morone, Piergiuseppe, 2007. "Knowledge Opportunities and ICT – A Middle Income Country Experience between Growth and Inequality," Economia Internazionale / International Economics, Camera di Commercio Industria Artigianato Agricoltura di Genova, vol. 60(4), pages 489-516.
    10. Emma Aisbett, 2007. "Why are the Critics So Convinced that Globalization is Bad for the Poor?," NBER Chapters, in: Globalization and Poverty, pages 33-86, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. Heiko Karle & Florian Kerzenmacher & Heiner Schumacher & Frank Verboven, 2022. "Search Costs and Diminishing Sensitivity," CESifo Working Paper Series 9888, CESifo.
    12. Benjamin Bachi, 2016. "Competition with price similarities," Economic Theory Bulletin, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 4(2), pages 277-290, October.
    13. Thomas Goda & Alejandro Torres, 2015. "Class or location? What explains the rising tide of absolute global income inequality during 1850-2010?," Documentos de Trabajo CIEF 12663, Universidad EAFIT.
    14. Fabrizi, Simona & Lippert, Steffen & Puppe, Clemens & Rosenkranz, Stephanie, 2016. "Manufacturer suggested retail prices, loss aversion and competition," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 141-153.
    15. Andrea Brandolini, 2006. "Measurement of Income Distribution in Supranational Entities: The Case of the European Union," LIS Working papers 452, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    16. Lynn, Michael & Jabbour, Patrick & Kim, Woo Gon, 2012. "Who uses tips as a reward for service and when? An examination of potential moderators of the service–tipping relationship," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 90-103.
    17. Thomas Goda & Alejandro Torres García, 2017. "The Rising Tide of Absolute Global Income Inequality During 1850–2010: Is It Driven by Inequality Within or Between Countries?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 130(3), pages 1051-1072, February.
    18. Lembregts, Christophe & Pandelaere, Mario, 2014. ""A 20% income increase for everyone?": The effect of relative increases in income on perceived income inequality," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 37-47.
    19. Anthony B. Atkinson & Andrea Brandolini, 2010. "On Analyzing the World Distribution of Income," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 24(1), pages 1-37, January.
    20. Azar, Ofer H., 2019. "Do fixed payments affect effort? Examining relative thinking in mixed compensation schemes," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 52-66.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:somere:v:52:y:2023:i:2:p:803-840. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.