The New Zealand Attitudes and Values Study: An OverviewChris G. Sibley

School of Psychology

University of Auckland

Acknowledgements: This research was supported by a Templeton World Charity Foundation Grant (ID: 0077) and a RSNZ Marsden Grant (ID: VUW1321).

www.psych.auckland.ac.nz/uoa/NZAVS

New Zealand

• Small nation of 4.5 million• WEIRD nation• Formally bicultural, with indigenous

population (Maori) about 15% of the population• Also multicultural, with immigration

from Asia, Pacific and Europe.• Asian peoples 12%, • Pacific 7-8%• Referred to by some as the ‘most

oversampled nation’ (From Milfont et al. 2014, PLOS ONE, Fig. 1, p. 4)

What is the NZAVS?

• Planned 20-year longitudinal study• Currently in its 6th year• Postal survey• Sample frame drawn from NZ Electoral Roll• Sample contains about 22,000 unique people• Large multidisciplinary research team• Survives on soft money, so far anyways• Primarily socio-psychological questions• Generated more than 60 published papers• Wave-to-wave retention about 80%

Image from Carvin Steetwear – NZ – Federation. http://www.carvinstreetwear.com/brands/federation/federation-i-call-new-zealand-home-2.html

What is the NZAVS?

Our Goals

• Answering big questions about change and stability that require long-term longitudinal and multilevel data capturing change and stability in both people and neighbourhoods.• Building infrastructure for longitudinal research and data

analysis in New Zealand. • Providing independent (and free) data and expert analysis on

socially relevant issues in New Zealand to policy makers and health professionals. • Providing data from New Zealand for larger collaborative

cross-cultural research. • Leaving something long-term that will be of use for future

generations of researchers in New Zealand.

Sample Size and Retention• Wave I. In 2009, the NZAVS randomly sampled a total of 6,518 registered

voters from the New Zealand electoral roll.• Wave II. In 2010, the NZAVS sampled 4,423 people retained from Wave I

(retention rate from Wave I = 68%).• Wave III. In 2011, the NZAVS sampled 6,884 people, with 3,918 people

retained from Wave I and a booster sample of 2,962 new participants (retention rate from Wave I = 60%, wave-to-wave retention from previous year = 80%).

• Wave IV. In 2012, the NZAVS sampled 12,182 people, with 4,053 people retained from Wave I and a booster sample of 5,108 new participants (retention rate from Wave I = 62%, wave-to-wave retention from previous year = 84%).

• Wave V. In 2013, the NZAVS sampled 18,264 people, with 3,934 people retained from Wave I and a booster sample of 7,581 new participants (retention rate from Wave I = 60%, wave-to-wave retention from previous year = 81%).

NZAVS Sample Projections

Generally, we retain about 80% of the previous wave. The function looks like this:

yw = 22764e-0.223w

Sibley, C. G. (2014). NZAVS Sample Projections. NZAVS Technical Documents, e18. http://www.psych.auckland.ac.nz/uoa/NZAVS

What is the NZAVS?

Updated from:

Satherley, N., Milojev, P., Greaves, L. M., Huang, Y., Osborne, D., Bulbulia, J., & Sibley, C. G. (2015). Demographic and psychological predictors of panel attrition: evidence from the New Zealand Attitudes and Values Study. PLoS ONE, 10, e0121950.

How representative are we?

Comparison of men and women in the T4 (2012) NZAVS and 2013 New Zealand Census

Comparison of distribution across region in the T4 (2012) NZAVS and 2013 New Zealand Census

Comparison of ethnic affiliation in the T4 (2012) NZAVS and 2013 New Zealand Census

How representative are we?

On election day, Sept 20th, 2014National: 47%Labour: 25%

Bias reflects the extent to which the NZAVS systematically over or underestimates support for a given party relative to the TVNZ polls.

Accuracy reflects the extent to which the NZAVS reliably tracks change in political party support over time relative to the TVNZ polls.

The questionnaire• Eight page questionnaire,

completed each year.• Also an online version• Organized into ‘content blocks’

most included each year, some on a 2 year rotation.• All the usual social-psych

suspects:

Big-Six Personality, Social Dominance Orientation, Right-Wing Authoritarianism, Ambivalent Sexism, Patriotism, Nationalism, Affect toward different ethnic groups, Attitudes toward Multiculturalism, Immigration, Schwartz Values, Subjective Wellbeing, Satisfaction with Life, Body Image, Self-Esteem, Psychological Distress, Health ratings, climate change beliefs, attitudes toward the environment, intergroup contact (positive and negative), voting behaviour, political party support, perceived discrimination, felt belongingness, color-blind ideology, ethnic identity, and so on and so forth.

Geographic Information

• New Zealand is unusual in having rich census information about each area unit/neighborhood of the country available for research purposes. The smallest of these area units are meshblocks.

Figure 1. Geographic hierarchy of areas in New Zealand. (Available at: http://www.stats.govt.nz/methods/classifications-and-standards/geographic-hierarchy.aspx)

Geographic InformationRegional deprivation, proportion in income bands, ethnicity, gender, immigration, home ownership, birthplace, cigarette smoking, qualifications, education, sources of income, employment status, job type, number living in household, relationship status, access to telecommunications, hours in employment, number of bedrooms, and so on…

The NZAVS focuses on data at two levels:• Area Units (2020 units,

median = 1977 residents per unit)• Wards (257 units,

median = 6378 residents per unit)

How do we manage ourselves

• Research team as about 30% academics and 70% graduate students. • Rely on a democratic team-based process for all

decisions.• Make pitches to one another about what we want in the

questionnaire each year.• Majority of analyses in Mplus, have a communal

repository containing syntax for all analyses, papers in progress and published papers.• Always check with one another regarding what we are

hoping to analyse and publish.

The NZAVS Research Team

www.psych.auckland.ac.nz/uoa/NZAVS