Although we discuss methods of data collection and coding in broad outline in Chapter 2 (Section 5), we go into less detail there than for factor analysis (Chapter 2, Section 8). This is because collecting and coding decisions, though of fundamental importance, are even more technical; and closely tied to details of the overall coding frame. We therefore present our full description and justification here, in immediate juxtoposition to the frame itself, so that cross-reference is immediate and easy.

The Appendix therefore falls into three sections: a general account and justification of the decisions taken on quantification and classification of the election programmes – which refers also to certain aspects of the succeeding statistical analyses where data related decisions affected these (B1); a short account of operational procedures (B2); and the coding frame itself (B3). Some supplementary technical analyses will be reported in the associated microfiche publication.

B1 BASIC RESEARCH DESIGN

The research design for this book is the product of deliberation and experimentation over five years by a group of scholars. Although the basic outlines were fixed at the beginning of the project, the details are the product of a lengthy inductive process, and the result of technical problems which could not be identified ahead of time but had to be resolved as they occurred.