A Threefold Empirical Investigation of RPV

In order to answer the research questions and conduct empirical tests of the hypotheses laid out in Chap. 2 , I combine three comparative research designs that make it possible to investigate retrospective pledge voting (RPV) at different levels of analysis: starting at the aggregate (Chap. 4 ), proceeding to the group (Chap. 5 ), and going down to the micro level (Chap. 6 ). For this purpose, I gather and analyse different kinds of quantitative data derived from observational, survey and experimental data collections. This combined approach makes it possible to develop a thorough understanding of whether and under which conditions pledge performance influences voting. Additionally, it brings together scientific advantages of different research designs and maximises the internal and external validity of the results.