Assessing young people's political engagement: a critical and systematic literature review of the instruments used to measure political engagement

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Pontes, A.I. ORCID: 0000-0003-3712-9425, Henn, M. ORCID: 0000-0002-1063-3544 and Griffiths, M.D. ORCID: 0000-0001-8880-6524, 2016. Assessing young people's political engagement: a critical and systematic literature review of the instruments used to measure political engagement. International Politics Reviews, 4 (2), pp. 55-72. ISSN 2050-2982

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Official URL: http://doi.org/10.1057/s41312-016-0002-4

Abstract

Over the past few decades, there has been an increasing interest in understanding youth political engagement. However, it has been argued that the instruments used to assess the concept often lack adequate validation, and this is important as this practice may result in biased statistical conclusions. Consequently, the main aim of the present study was to systematically review, summarize, and critique the extant research evidence on the development of psychometric instruments that assess young people’s political engagement. Following a systematic review of the literature, seven instruments were identified that were both valid and reliable, but none explicitly assessed young people’s political engagement. Instead, they considered broad concepts and/or dimensions related to political engagement. Emphasising the lack of statistically robust standardised measurement tools that empirically assess young people’s political engagement, the available evidence confirms the pressing need to adopt a robust psychometric approach to assess political engagement in youth.

Item Type:

Journal article

Publication Title:

International Politics Reviews

Creators:

Pontes, A.I., Henn, M. and Griffiths, M.D.

Publisher:

Springer

Date:

October 2016

Volume:

Number: