A new document has been added to the Society for Political Methodology Website.

 Title:     The Immigration Issue and the 2010 House Elections: A Research Design

Author(s):     Jamie Monogan

Entry Date:     2010-11-02

Keyword(s):     causal inference, propensity score, elections, immigration

Abstract:      This paper proposes a research design for evaluating the effect of Republican candidates' immigration stances on House election outcomes. It develops a measure of immigration stance which is based on the text of each candidate's issue statement. With this as the treatment, propensities to support a harsh line on immigration are calculated for each candidate based on a variety of covariates that also may influence election outcomes. In this way, a research design is developed before election outcomes are observed. Thus, this project clearly reflects the advice of Rubin, who argues that the research design ought to be set before the outcome is even observed.

http://polmeth.wustl.edu/mediaDetail.php?docId=1258

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