ABSTRACT
Surveys are rarely used to test rational choke theory (RCT), and many proponents of RCT doubt that survey research is an appropriate method for exploring the validity of explanatory models based on RCT. This chapter describes a special field of research, namely political action research, and discusses the extent to which survey research can be used to test the central propositions put forward by rational choice theorists in explaining the type of behavior. An argument claiming that RCT cannot be tested empirically is based on the fact that every rational choice explanation makes assumptions about the costs and benefits of the behavior to be explained, i.e. about the incentives that may have generated the behavior. RCT focuses on explaining macro-events or relations between macro-events by linking the macro-variables to individual incentives. Political scientists and sociologists using macro-data sets are often very critical of survey research.
