Assessments

Mock Exam

In this exercise you will work with data from the British Election Study. The data are from the 2024 post election survey, where randomly selected voters were asked questions about their opinion and behaviour. The dataset is called bes2024.csv and can be downloaded below.

Variable description

Variable Name Question Values and Labels
B01 Talking with people about the general election on 4th July 2024, we have found that a lot of people didn’t manage to vote. How about you, did you manage to vote in the general election? 1 = Yes, voted, 0 = No, did not vote
A03 How interested would you say you are in politics? Would you say you are… 1 = Very interested, 2 = Fairly interested, 3 = Not very interested, 4 = Not at all interested
B07 Did you care which party won the recent general election? 1 = Cared a good deal, 0 = Didn’t care very much
C01 How interested were you in the general election that was held on 4th July 2024? 1 = Very interested, 2 = Somewhat interested, 3 = Not very interested, 4 = Not at all interested
C02_1 Going to vote is a lot of effort 1 = Strongly disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3 = Neither agree nor disagree, 4 = Agree, 5 = Strongly agree
C02_2 I feel a sense of satisfaction when I vote 1 = Strongly disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3 = Neither agree nor disagree, 4 = Agree, 5 = Strongly agree
C02_3 It is every citizen’s duty to vote in an election 1 = Strongly disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3 = Neither agree nor disagree, 4 = Agree, 5 = Strongly agree
D01 Generally speaking, do you think of yourself as Labour, Conservative, Liberal Democrat, (Scottish National/Plaid Cymru) [in Scotland/Wales] or what? 0 = None/No, 1 = Labour, 2 = Conservative, 3 = Liberal Democrat, 4 = Scottish National Party (SNP), 5 = Plaid Cymru, 6 = Green Party, 8 = Reform UK, 9 = Other

Question:

  1. You want to explain what makes somebody go out and vote in the 2024 general election. You use the data from the British Election Study to better understand the factors which determine individual turnout.
    1. Which variable do you use as a dependent variable to analyse this question?
    2. What kind of variable is it?
  2. You think that people who care about the outcome of the election will be more likely to vote. To test this you use variable b07.
    1. Calculate the difference-in-means estimator using the lm function.
    2. Write down the regression model you used to estimate the difference-in-means.
    3. Interpret the estimate. Can you interpret the difference-in-means estimate causally? Explain.
    4. Is the difference statistically significant at the 5% level? Explain how you come to the conclusion.
  3. Add variables a03 and c01 to the model. Interpret the coefficient for the variable b07 in this updated model.
  4. Now add all other variables except d01 to the model. Interpret the coefficient for variable c02_1.
  5. Create a new variable called reform, which is 1 if the voter identifies with Reform UK and 0 otherwise.
  6. Add the variable reform to the regression and interpret the coefficient. Are reform supporters more likely to vote than supporters of other parties?
  7. The variable a03 has a statistically significant coefficient in some model specifications but not in others. Can you think of a reason for why that may be the case?

data download

The solution can be found here

Midterm assessment (50%)

The midterm assessment is a TikTok Video. It is due on 10 March 2026, 1pm. Detailed instructions can be found below and on QMPlus (under assessment).

You will submit the assessment via the submission link on the QMPlus module page. The assessment link will be available under “assessment”.

Midterm instructions

Data for midterm

Online Exam (50%)

The exam will be held online on the 20 May 2026 from 10:00 to 17:00 BST.

We will use the Cadmus platform. The link will be available on QMPlus under the assessments tab at the time and date of the exam.

More information on the exam can be found on the lecture slides for Week 12.