THE PERCEIVED CAUSAL-STRUCTURE OF POVERTY - A NETWORK ANALYSIS APPROACH

The results of two studies that sought to determine the perceived causal structure of poverty are reported. Respondents were left- and right-wing political party supporters in Australia. Following Lunt (e.g. 1988, 1991), causal structure was uncovered using network analysis. It was noted that the spatial structure in the two studies was similar, although different networks for left- and right-wing voters resulted. Results showed that respondents tended to perceive different causes of poverty as being distal, yet agreed as to the proximal causes. It was also noted that the processes by which causes were perceived to be proximal varied from group to group. The advantages of the network approach as opposed to the more traditional taxonomic method are discussed.