Surveys in Context: How Timing in the Electoral Cycle Influences Response Propensity and Satisficing

publication-status: Acceptedtypes: ArticleThe value of cross-national surveys in examining how political and social contexts shape attitudes and behavior has been demonstrated over the past 20 years. Their vulnerabilities, such as measurement equivalence, have also received considerable attention. Less attention has been paid to the how variations in the timing of the fieldwork may affect data quality. We investigate how the timing of the survey in the electoral cycle may affect survey cooperation and satisficing. For some indicators, we find support for a context effect in that reluctance to cooperate and satisficing decrease as an election approaches, and this effect is more pronounced among the politically interested. Our results have implications for both cross-national survey research and campaign effects studies in that conducting fieldwork close to an election can alter data quality and campaigns can influence behaviour but also cooperation with surveys.ESR