Hostname: page-component-7b7567c8c-fvjsw Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-11-15T20:23:23.623Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Iff the Assumption Fits…: A Comment on the King Ecological Inference Solution

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 January 2017

Wendy K. Tam Cho
Get accessRights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

I examine a recently proposed solution to the ecological inference problem (King 1997). It is asserted that the proposed model is able to reconstruct individual-level behavior from aggregate data. I discuss in detail both the benefits and limitations of this model. The assumptions of the basic model are often inappropriate for instances of aggregate data. The extended version of the model is able to correct for some of these limitations. However, it is difficult in most cases to apply the extended model properly.

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Political Analysis , Volume 7 , 1998, pp. 143 - 163
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Political Methodology 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Achen, Christopher H., and Phillips Shively, W. 1995. Cross-Level Inference. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Ansolabehere, Stephen, and Rivers, Douglas. 1997. “Bias in Ecological Regression Estimates.” Working paper.Google Scholar
Berger, James O. 1985. Statistical Decision Theory and Bayesian Analysis. 2nd ed. New York: Springer-Verlag.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
βox, George E. P. 1953. “Non-normality and Tests on Variances.” Biometrika 40: 318–335.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cain, Bruce, Roderick Kiewiet, D., and Uhlaner, Carole J. 1991. “The Acquisition of Partisanship by Latinos and Asian Americans.” American Journal of Political Science 35: 390–422.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cho, Wendy K. Tam. 1997. “Structural Shifts and Deterministic Regime Switching in Aggregate Data Analysis.” Working paper.Google Scholar
Duncan, Otis Dudley, and Davis, Beverly. 1953. “An Alternative to Ecological Correlation.” American Sociological Review 18: 665–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goodman, Leo A. 1953. “Ecological Regressions and Behavior of Individuals.” American Sociological Review 18: 663–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goodman, Leo A. 1959. “Some Alternatives to Ecological Correlation.” American Journal of Sociology 64: 610–625.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huber, Peter J. 1981. Robust Statistics. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
King, Gary. 1997. A Solution to the Ecological Inference Problem: Reconstructing Individual Behavior from Aggregate Data. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Robinson, W. S. 1950. “Ecological Correlations and the Behavior of Individuals.” American Sociological Review 15: 351–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scheffé, Henry. 1959. The Analysis of Variance. New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Shively, W. Phillips. 1974. “Utilizing External Evidence in Cross-Level Inference.” Political Methodology 1: 61–74.Google Scholar
Swamy, P. A. V. B. 1971. Statistical Inference in Random Coefficient Regression Models. Berlin: Springer-Verlag.CrossRefGoogle Scholar