Understanding EA community beliefs around protest

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Context: See this EA forum post (?) and https://www.socialchangelab.org/

How would you describe your current understanding of protest movements or civil resistance? *

I know nothing

I'm very well versed

What aspects around protest movements are you the most certain of i.e. you wouldn’t need more evidence to demonstrate it? *

For example: "I'm reasonably certain they can turn off certain people" or "I'm quite sure they can generate media attention around a certain issue"

It can positively influence public opinion

It can positively influence media / public discourse

It can positively influence policymakers

It can positively influence voting habits

It can negatively influence public opinion

It can negatively influence media / public discourse

It can negatively influence policymakers

It can negatively influence voting habits

None of the above

Other:

Required

Which statements reflect your thoughts around the effectiveness of protest as a tool for positive social change? Select all that apply *

They’re not effective at all in creating positive social change

They can have some positive impacts but they’re not significant and/or cost-effective

It’s hard to measure their impacts so they could be cost-effective or not, it’s hard to tell

Even though they could be effective, they can have potentially quite damaging consequences which seem riskier than other interventions

They can be cost-effective but it’s difficult to determine which ones are going to be successful a priori

Other:

Required

How important do you think are the various possible impacts of protest? *

1 (not at all important)

3 (important)

5 (very important)

Ability to influence public opinion

Ability to influence media / public discourse

Ability to influence policy makers

Ability to influence voting habits

If research was being conducted into the effectiveness of protest, which methods would you find the most compelling? Select four (4) in total. *

You can see more information about each method here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1twPROiOdt4dIje5TxipYZY4jaNzML989DaxiF4qB8Mg/edit?usp=sharing

Literature review of protest impacts literature

Expert elicitation of academics and relevant experts

Expert elicitation of policymakers

Public opinion polling before and after one set of protests

Natural experiments (e.g. examining impact of historical protests on policy, etc.)

Case studies with cost-effectiveness analyses

Analysis of Twitter data around protests to determine changes in sentiment and salience

Testing theory of change assumptions e.g. do protest lead to more public support for an issue

Comparative analysis of different movements to identify key factors for success

Shallow statistical analysis with 50-100 movements

Other:

Required

What other further research would you like to see in the space? Or do you have any additional comments on this research?

What EA cause areas are you most involved with?

Option 1

Clear selection

How engaged are you within the EA community?

Option 1

Clear selection

What career stage are you currently at?

School

Undergraduate

Postgraduate

Early career (0-5 years)

Mid career (5-15 years)

Late career (15 years+)

Clear selection

Option 1

Clear selection

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