I'm seeking example self-report survey items to measure the following constructs among a U.S. audience of adults. Thanks in advance for any tips, this is outside my research area and I'm not having much luck in my literature search on the topic. I'd like to measure: knowledge, and to a lesser extent attitudes and practices about:
1. Knowledge of what districts someone lives in (e.g., ability to name either one's elected representative or district number for federal, state, etc. levels)
2. Knowledge of what levels of government control different policy areas (state vs. federal vs. municipal, etc.). My hope is we could give examples of possible policies and determine if the respondent could identify the responsible elected official or level of government with jurisdiction over the topic area. My examples will likely be health and health equity related.
3. Knowledge about different ways to engage in different types of policy advocacy: a) contacting elected representatives; b) writing op-eds/letters to editor; c) forming and joining coalitions; d) creating & distributing sign-on letters; e) other forms of advocacy like phone / text banking etc.
4. Knowledge about the constraints and opportunities for government employees to engage in advocacy; namely differences between advocacy vs. lobbying; oppotunity to engage as a private citizen (vs. government employee) etc.
I want to use the survey to determine baseline knowledge, attitudes, & practices, and to measure change over time.
Thanks in advance!
Sounds like a fascinating study. It's not my area of expertise either, so I have nothing specific to offer. I wonder if you could look for examples among voter population studies? How knowledgeable are people when they go into the voting booth regarding what's on the ballot (people and initiatives)? Do they know where to go to find information to prepare themselves to vote? There might be more studies of this kind since there are many pundits surrounding elections.
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