Measuring party identification: an exploratory study with focus groups

Warren E. Miller is irretrievably associated with the concept of party identification. The concept was pivotal in his own research and is a recurring theme in the study of voting behaviour across the world. Throughout his career Miller stressed that analysts should take great care when defining and measuring the concept. In this paper, evidence from focus groups is used to explore the form of question most likely to enable voters to distinguish between their enduring party identification and their current political preference. The study shows that the traditional party identification question employed in the British Election Study is inadequate for the purpose. In response to Miller's call to improve the validity of the question, an alternative question wording is suggested. © 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.