Umut Atasever | TU Dortmund (original) (raw)

Papers by Umut Atasever

Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability

Cross-national comparisons of educational achievement rely upon each participating country collec... more Cross-national comparisons of educational achievement rely upon each participating country collecting nationally representative data. While obtaining high response rates is a key part of reaching this goal, other potentially important factors may also be at play. This paper focuses on one such issue—exclusion rates—which has received relatively little attention in the academic literature. Using data from 20 years of international large-scale assessment data, we find there to be modest variation in exclusion rates across countries and that there has been a relatively small increase in exclusion rates in some over time. We also demonstrate how exclusion rates tend to be higher in studies of primary students than in studies of secondary students. Finally, while there seems to be little relationship between exclusion rates and response rates, there is a weak negative association between the level of exclusions and test performance. We conclude by discussing how information about exclusi...

Springer's Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability , 2023

Cross-national comparisons of educational achievement rely upon each participating country collec... more Cross-national comparisons of educational achievement rely upon each participating country collecting nationally representative data. While obtaining high response rates is a key part of reaching this goal, other potentially important factors may also be at play. This paper focuses on one such issue—exclusion rates—which has received relatively little attention in the academic literature. Using data from 20 years of international large-scale assessment data, we find there to be modest variation in exclusion rates across countries and that there has been a relatively small increase in exclusion rates in some over time. We also demonstrate how exclusion rates tend to be higher in studies of primary students than in studies of secondary students. Finally, while there seems to be little relationship between exclusion rates and response rates, there is a weak negative association between the level of exclusions and test performance. We conclude by discussing how information about exclusions—and other similar issues—might be more clearly communicated to non-specialist audiences.

Analysis Scripts in Large-Scale Assessments in Education: Scripts based on PIAAC data, 2023

The IEA International Database Analyzer (IDB Analyzer) is a software tool developed by the Intern... more The IEA International Database Analyzer (IDB Analyzer) is a software tool developed by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA). It can be used to analyze data from PIAAC and other international large-scale assessments while accounting for sampling and replication weights as well as plausible values.

Master Thesis at the University of Manheim, Faculty of Social Science, M.A. in Political Science, 2016

This paper examines an issue-attention approach of the public discourse, in which a cyclic media ... more This paper examines an issue-attention approach of the public discourse, in which a cyclic media coverage is presented following the large-scale events, giving momentum to public opinion on political issues. It is worth understanding how an agenda-setting power of the mass media develops as it portrays a crisisto the public. Therefore, the purpose of the study is focused on the effect of media coverage on political issues has on significant changes in public opinion and policy positions of political parties. Performing a media agenda analysis on specific issues,
and combining it with survey data between 2009 and 2013, the findings indicate a shift in public opinion and policy positions of politicians regarding the use of atomic energy in Germany. In regards to climate change salience in Germany, the results do not show such an event during
the time frame that would change the public stance from the previous position. The study also checks for alternate factors, such as the European debt crisis, which has entered into German political realm, in understanding the why climate change salience decreased, while the volume of financial crisis articles causes a rise in economic salience.

What are the political consequences of asylum seeker boat arrivals in Australia? The research pap... more What are the political consequences of asylum seeker boat arrivals in Australia? The research paper is going to analyze an electoral respond to the Australian political parties, which show different approaches towards immigration in the periods of high flows of asylum seekers to the country. By analyzing a Time-Series Cross-Sectional (TSCS) data that combine federal elections between 1975 and 2013, empirical results show that Australian voters are more likely to support the political parties that appeal to nationalism, patriotism, and restrictive measures of immigration in the awake of boat crises. Nonetheless, anti-immigration statements become less popular, when the magnitude of asylum seekers, who are trying to reach Australian waters, declines. The research paper will be a contribution to the literature by answering how a country, which was built on the inflows of immigration from all around the world, takes one of the toughest positions towards asylum seekers.

To what extent, left-vote share changes following the implementation of fiscal consolidations? Ev... more To what extent, left-vote share changes following the implementation of fiscal consolidations? Even though previous literature evaluated both incumbency-oriented and policy-oriented voting behavior regarding macroeconomic variables that incumbents perform, fiscal consolidation episodes have been neglected in the electoral studies. Time-Series Cross Sectional (TSCS) data has been recreated to examine 98 Legislative Elections in 13 Western European Countries between 1982 and 2010. Empirical evidence reveals that taxation and unemployment have a significant effect in shaping electoral preferences towards the left-oriented parties, while spending cuts and GDP Growth do not affect the left vote share in substantial terms. Findings also show that position of left-wing parties within incumbent governments change left vote share in a convincing way. While prime ministerial left governments are more successful in introducing tax hikes, left vote share also benefits from tax hikes, implemented by governments they do not associate.

Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability

Cross-national comparisons of educational achievement rely upon each participating country collec... more Cross-national comparisons of educational achievement rely upon each participating country collecting nationally representative data. While obtaining high response rates is a key part of reaching this goal, other potentially important factors may also be at play. This paper focuses on one such issue—exclusion rates—which has received relatively little attention in the academic literature. Using data from 20 years of international large-scale assessment data, we find there to be modest variation in exclusion rates across countries and that there has been a relatively small increase in exclusion rates in some over time. We also demonstrate how exclusion rates tend to be higher in studies of primary students than in studies of secondary students. Finally, while there seems to be little relationship between exclusion rates and response rates, there is a weak negative association between the level of exclusions and test performance. We conclude by discussing how information about exclusi...

Springer's Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability , 2023

Cross-national comparisons of educational achievement rely upon each participating country collec... more Cross-national comparisons of educational achievement rely upon each participating country collecting nationally representative data. While obtaining high response rates is a key part of reaching this goal, other potentially important factors may also be at play. This paper focuses on one such issue—exclusion rates—which has received relatively little attention in the academic literature. Using data from 20 years of international large-scale assessment data, we find there to be modest variation in exclusion rates across countries and that there has been a relatively small increase in exclusion rates in some over time. We also demonstrate how exclusion rates tend to be higher in studies of primary students than in studies of secondary students. Finally, while there seems to be little relationship between exclusion rates and response rates, there is a weak negative association between the level of exclusions and test performance. We conclude by discussing how information about exclusions—and other similar issues—might be more clearly communicated to non-specialist audiences.

Analysis Scripts in Large-Scale Assessments in Education: Scripts based on PIAAC data, 2023

The IEA International Database Analyzer (IDB Analyzer) is a software tool developed by the Intern... more The IEA International Database Analyzer (IDB Analyzer) is a software tool developed by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA). It can be used to analyze data from PIAAC and other international large-scale assessments while accounting for sampling and replication weights as well as plausible values.

Master Thesis at the University of Manheim, Faculty of Social Science, M.A. in Political Science, 2016

This paper examines an issue-attention approach of the public discourse, in which a cyclic media ... more This paper examines an issue-attention approach of the public discourse, in which a cyclic media coverage is presented following the large-scale events, giving momentum to public opinion on political issues. It is worth understanding how an agenda-setting power of the mass media develops as it portrays a crisisto the public. Therefore, the purpose of the study is focused on the effect of media coverage on political issues has on significant changes in public opinion and policy positions of political parties. Performing a media agenda analysis on specific issues,
and combining it with survey data between 2009 and 2013, the findings indicate a shift in public opinion and policy positions of politicians regarding the use of atomic energy in Germany. In regards to climate change salience in Germany, the results do not show such an event during
the time frame that would change the public stance from the previous position. The study also checks for alternate factors, such as the European debt crisis, which has entered into German political realm, in understanding the why climate change salience decreased, while the volume of financial crisis articles causes a rise in economic salience.

What are the political consequences of asylum seeker boat arrivals in Australia? The research pap... more What are the political consequences of asylum seeker boat arrivals in Australia? The research paper is going to analyze an electoral respond to the Australian political parties, which show different approaches towards immigration in the periods of high flows of asylum seekers to the country. By analyzing a Time-Series Cross-Sectional (TSCS) data that combine federal elections between 1975 and 2013, empirical results show that Australian voters are more likely to support the political parties that appeal to nationalism, patriotism, and restrictive measures of immigration in the awake of boat crises. Nonetheless, anti-immigration statements become less popular, when the magnitude of asylum seekers, who are trying to reach Australian waters, declines. The research paper will be a contribution to the literature by answering how a country, which was built on the inflows of immigration from all around the world, takes one of the toughest positions towards asylum seekers.

To what extent, left-vote share changes following the implementation of fiscal consolidations? Ev... more To what extent, left-vote share changes following the implementation of fiscal consolidations? Even though previous literature evaluated both incumbency-oriented and policy-oriented voting behavior regarding macroeconomic variables that incumbents perform, fiscal consolidation episodes have been neglected in the electoral studies. Time-Series Cross Sectional (TSCS) data has been recreated to examine 98 Legislative Elections in 13 Western European Countries between 1982 and 2010. Empirical evidence reveals that taxation and unemployment have a significant effect in shaping electoral preferences towards the left-oriented parties, while spending cuts and GDP Growth do not affect the left vote share in substantial terms. Findings also show that position of left-wing parties within incumbent governments change left vote share in a convincing way. While prime ministerial left governments are more successful in introducing tax hikes, left vote share also benefits from tax hikes, implemented by governments they do not associate.