### Expert Surveys & Measurement Challenges
Political scientists frequently employ expert surveys to uncover the intrinsic traits of political entities. However, experts often disagree due to varying levels of information and analytical capability.
### Proposed Solutions for Better Assessment
This article addresses how to effectively handle this uncertainty:
* Assessing experts' predictive abilities (how well they judge latent positions)
* Developing robust methods to combine their diverse responses
### Case Study: EU Integration & Party Politics Survey
The authors analyze prominent expert survey data from the literature focusing on party politics and European Union integration. This real-world application highlights practical consequences of different aggregation approaches.
### Monte Carlo Simulation Findings
Using simulation, we show that:
* Aggregating responses using median or modal values outperforms mean averaging in most scenarios
These methods produce more accurate aggregated estimates despite expert disagreement.