Data & Methodology

My Approach

This blog is dedicated to understanding New Zealand and climate politics through careful analysis of hard data. I draw on quantitative evidence to examine political attitudes, behaviour, and trends. The data comes first — but as I acknowledge elsewhere on this site, no analysis is ever truly free of interpretation, and I try to be transparent about where my own judgements come in.

Rather than engaging with the 'horse race' (who will win?), I focus on why people support policies, parties and politicians.

Data Sources

My analyses draw on high-quality data from established research programmes, including:

• New Zealand Election Study (NZES) – survey data on electoral behaviour and political attitudes
• New Zealand Attitudes and Values Study (NZAVS) – longitudinal panel data tracking social attitudes over time
• International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) – cross-national survey data enabling international comparisons

I may also use other reputable sources including official statistics, academic studies, and publicly available datasets where appropriate.

Note: Because I rely on high quality data sources, and individual-level data, I sometimes use data that is older than what you may typically be used to in data journalism articles.

Analytical Philosophy

My priority is to present results in the clearest and most accessible way possible. This means I favour methods that communicate findings clearly over more complex approaches. Where sophisticated methods are warranted, I explain them in plain language.

Transparency & Reproducibility

Wherever possible, I make the code for my analyses publicly available so that others can verify my work and build upon it. Links to the code can be found in specific posts.