The Effect of Interviewer Characteristics and Expectations on Response

This study reports on two sets of findings related to interviewereffects, derived from a national RDD sample of the adult population.The first of these concerns the effect of interviewer characteristicsand expectations on overall cooperation rates; the second, theeffect of interviewer characteristics and expectations on itemnonresponse and response quality. We found that interviewers'age, the size of the interviewing assignment, and interviewers'expectations all had a strong effect on overall cooperationrates; the relation of experience to response rate was curvilinearin this sample. Age and education have consistent but statisticallyinsignificant effects on item nonresponse. The effect of interviewers'expectations on responses within the interview resembles thatin earlier studies, but is less pronounced and less consistent.     

Child and Interviewer Race in Forensic Interviewing

The purpose of this study was to examine the potential effect of child race and interviewer race on forensic interviewing outcomes. The results of the regression analysis indicated that child race and interviewer race had a significant effect on interview outcome category (no findings, inconclusive, or findings consistent with sexual abuse). Furthermore, the results indicate that the interaction of child and interviewer race had predictive value for rates of findings consistent with sexual abuse but not in the direction predicted. Cross-race dyads had significantly higher rates of interview outcomes consistent with sexual abuse. These findings suggest that more research into the effect of race on disclosure of child sexual abuse is needed.     

Public Sector Management and the Democratic Ethos: A 5-Year Study of Key Relationships in Israel

This article deals with the nexus between bureaucracy and democracyin a management-oriented public sector. The article developsthe idea that public administration plays a major role in determiningcitizens’ political attitudes and behaviors. A theoreticalmodel is suggested to examine the relationship among citizens’perceptions of involvement and participation in administrativedecision making, perceived managerial quality, perceived publicsector performance, and democratic participatory behavior (i.e.,trust in administrative agencies, political participation, andcommunity involvement). A sample of 2,281 Israeli citizens providedinformation on the research variables over a 5-year period (2001–05).Findings reveal that citizens’ perceptions of involvementand participation in administrative decision making are positivelyrelated with perceived managerial quality but are not relatedwith perceived public sector performance. In addition, perceivedmanagerial quality is positively related with trust in administrativeagencies as well as with political participation and communityinvolvement. Finally, public sector performance is a mediatorin this relationship. These findings lead to a discussion aboutthe linkage between the bureaucratic and the democratic ethosin modern managerial governance, theoretical and practical implications,as well as suggestions for future studies.     

Interviewer Effects in Telephone Surveys

The interviewer effects for selected items from a number ofnational polls conducted by CBS News and The New York Timesin 1980 were examined. These effects were found to be generallyquite small and somewhat inconsistent from poll to poll. Theinconsistencies were explained by variable associations withthe nonrandom regional distribution of respondents and the politicalcontext in which the mea surements were obtained. There wassome evidence of respondent-interviewer interactions for certainitems.     

Interviewer Effect in a Survey of Drinking Practices*

This study investigates the relationship of interviewer characteristics to the responses of their interviewees in a survey in a relatively sensitive area—drinking practices. Generally, respondents seem to have reacted to easily ascertainable characteristics of the interviewers, such as sex, status (as measured by education, occupation, and clothing), and religion. The attitudes of the interviewer toward his interviewing were also related to respondents' reported drinking. It is concluded that interviewing is a social relationship of brief duration in which the respondent's performance reflects norms that tend to emerge based on the information each of the participants is able to learn about the other.     

Relationships Between Candidate Self-Monitoring, Perceived Personality, and Selection Interview Outcomes

A study into the relationships between candidateself-monitoring ability, interviewer perceptions ofcandidate personality, and interviewer outcome decisionsin the context of actual graduate recruitment interviews (n = 130) is presented. Detailedpsychometric norm data is also reported on the Lennoxand Wolfe (1984) revised Self-Monitoring (RS-M) scale,together with the results of confirmatory factoranalyses into the factor structure of this measure. Itwas found that candidate self-monitoring ability wasonly moderately and nonsignificantly related tointerviewer outcome evaluations, and thatself-monitoring was generally uncorrelated with thepositiveness of recruiter impressions of candidatepersonality. Confirmatory factor analyses revealed thata two correlated factor structure for the RS-M scale, inaccordance with the original authors' formulation,provided the most parsimonious fit. Norm data for theRS-M scale is reported for this sample of Britishgraduates, including item statistics, item to subscale,item to scale correlations, and internal reliabilitycoefficients. Implications for future research intocandidate impression management, self-monitoring,interviewer decision making, and the practicalimplications arising from these findings arediscussed.     

Effects of Interview Mode on Assessments of Erectile and Ejaculatory Dysfunction among Men with Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH)

In a randomized experiment (N = 249; age 50 + years), this study examined if self-reports of erectile dysfunction (ED) and ejaculatory dysfunction (EjD) symptomatology were influenced by the mode of interview administration (computer-assisted self-interview [CASI], audio computer-assisted self-interview [ACASI], or computer-assisted personal interview [CAPI; involving an interviewer]). This study also examined if mode moderated person variables hypothesized to impact self-reports (social desirability, age, or depressive mood). No main or moderating effects of mode were found for self-reports of EjD symptoms. However, mode effects on reports of ED symptoms were observed, and these moderated age and social desirability effects on self-reports. Significantly more older (relative to younger) men reported high levels of ED symptoms when interview administration was by a live interviewer (CAPI) than with self-administration. Alternatively, significantly more younger men reported high levels of ED symptoms when administration was by an interviewer (CAPI) or by ACASI (vs. CASI). The Mode × Social Desirability effects were complex (see the Discussion section), showing hypothesized effects under ACASI and CAPI conditions, but an opposite effect under the CASI condition. The stability of self-reported ED symptoms did not vary by mode (based on test–retest comparisons); test–retest was significantly higher for EjD symptoms within the ACASI condition. The impact of mode of administration on self-reports of ED/EjD symptoms is less predictable and dramatic than one might conclude from prior research with other types of self-report outcomes. The findings are consistent with a small, but growing, body of studies that illustrate highly situational effects of interviewing, which may depend on a complex interplay between modes, person variables, and the interview topic/target items. Self-administered methods, in particular, may not be a universal solution to response bias.     

Effects and Costs of Tracing Strategies on Nonresponse Bias in a Survey of Workers with Low-Back Injury

Declining rates of participation are an increasing challengefor studies that involve telephone surveys. This study examinedthe costs of a telephone survey methodology that used increasinglyintensive tracing methods to track a pool of claimants who hadsustained occupational back injuries. It also compared the respondentsample to people who refused the survey and/or were not locatedor contacted. 3,181 claimants were drawn from a database maintainedby the Missouri Division of Workers’ Compensation (DWC)and 1,475 completed a telephone interview. The DWC databaseprovided data reflecting monetary and disability outcomes forall potential participants; telephone interviews provided additionalself-reported data. More intensive tracing strategies improvedthe representativeness of the sample, yielding more women andminority participants. Relative to less intensive techniques,advanced tracing efforts located people whose DWC records weremore similar to claimants not located. While the hands-on tracingefforts reduced the apparent bias of the respondent sample,costs increased as tracing strategies intensified – over$98,000 was spent to trace 1,027 claimants who were never locatedor contacted. The results suggest some guidelines that may facilitatedecision-making for researchers and funders who must balancethe trade-off between costs and nonresponse bias when planningsurveys.     

Experiments with incentives in telephone surveys

In an effort to counter the problem of noncooperation, survey organizations are offering incentives to respondents with increasing frequency, some at the outset of the survey, as has traditionally been done in mail surveys, and some only after the person has refused, in an attempt to convert the refusal. This article reports on a series of experiments carried out over a period of about 2 years with a monthly telephone survey, the Survey of Consumer Attitudes, in an effort to increase response rates or reduce interviewer effort. We report on experiments with prepaid versus promised incentives; advance letters; and advance letters with prepaid incentives; and we also report on the effects of incentives on response quality, sample composition, response bias, interviewer and respondent expectations, and costs.     

Race differences in abortion attitudes: some additional evidence

Although Combs and Welch reported a trend of decreasing racialdifference in abortion attitudes, Hall and Ferree used datafrom the 1982 General Social Survey to argue that racial differencewere not declining. This paper updates this debate through the1988 General Social Survey and concludes that racial differenceshave indeed declined over time. Morever, when new religiousitems introduced in the 1984 survey are included in the multivariateanalysis, blacks are not significantly different from whitesin their support of legal abortion. This finding obscures amore intersting pattern, however, of offsetting, statisticallysignificant racial differences among respondents of the samegender—black men are significantly less supportive ofa abortion than white men, and black women are significantlymore supportive than white women.     

Gauging the Impact of Growing Nonresponse on Estimates from a National RDD Telephone Survey

Declining contact and cooperation rates in random digit dial(RDD) national telephone surveys raise serious concerns aboutthe validity of estimates drawn from such research. While researchin the 1990s indicated that nonresponse bias was relativelysmall, response rates have continued to fall since then. Thecurrent study replicates a 1997 methodological experiment thatcompared results from a "Standard" 5-day survey employing thePew Research Center’s usual methodology with results froma "Rigorous" survey conducted over a much longer field periodand achieving a significantly higher response rate. As withthe 1997 study, there is little to suggest that unit nonresponsewithin the range of response rates obtained seriously threatensthe quality of survey estimates. In 77 out of 84 comparableitems, the two surveys yielded results that were statisticallyindistinguishable. While the "Rigorous" study respondents tendedto be somewhat less politically engaged, they did not reportconsistently different behaviors or attitudes on other kindsof questions. With respect to sample composition, the Standardsurvey was closely aligned with estimates from the U.S. Censusand other large government surveys on most variables. We extendour analysis of nonresponse to include comparisons with thehardest-to-reach respondents and with respondents who terminatedthe interview prior to completion.     

The perceived effects of drug messages on use patterns in adolescents

Following a survey of over 5,000 students in north central Idaho and southeast Washington, an interviewing strategy was implemented with 223 adolescents randomly selected by their principals. The strategy was designed to learn: 1) which sources have utility and credibility with youth in providing drug information; 2) whether different message content and delivery style have differential effects upon that group; and 3) whether widely held perceptions voiced by parents and teachers about their ineffectiveness as information sources were accurate. Double-blind interviews, arranged to protect respondent anonymity, were conducted by trained interviewers from a research methods class. No interview was held when either an interviewer or respondent knew the other. Among the important findings of the study were that: 1) parents and teachers are trusted, credible sources of drug information; 2) doctors, nurses, law officers, and clergy are also credible but not visible to youth; 3) the evil media and celebrity fears of parents and teachers are largely ungrounded in adolescent perception; and 4) factual information from credible sources emphasizing the range of types of negative consequences associated with drug use can exert powerful effects upon adolescents' reported personal use of drugs.     

The effect of interviewer evaluation of respondents’ attitudes and understanding on future survey participation in a panel study

This study explored whether the interviewers’ judgments of respondents’ performances in an initial survey can predict survey participation for a second survey among the same group of respondents in a panel study. Specifically, this study examined two interviewer variables: the interviewers’ judgments of (1) the respondents’ understanding of survey questions and (2) the respondents’ attitudes toward the survey. The analyses revealed that respondents who were rated to have an excellent understanding of the survey questions and friendly attitudes were more likely to respond to the second interview request than those with a poor understanding and unfriendly attitudes, after controlling for the characteristics of the respondents. Of these two, the judgment of the respondents’ attitudes was a stronger predictor. However, interviewer’s judgments are not correlated with the primary survey outcome or the data quality. This suggests limited value of the interviewer observation.     

Manufacturing employees and technological change

Understanding why some workers resist technological change while others accept and facilitate it may be crucial for the survival of manufacturing firms. This study analyzes managers’ perceptions of employees’ reactions to technological changes at 206 Canadian manufacturing plants that made technological changes in their production operations between 1980 and 1988. The results indicate that the presence of a union and a technology clause in the contract significantly increase managers’ perceptions of employee resistance to technological changes. To avoid worker resistance to such changes, the results suggest that management should provide workers with an effective participation in the decision-making process and, if feasible, choose technology that will increase workers’ skill requirements.     

Media Bias in Interviewers’ Nonverbal Behavior: Potential Remedies,Attitude Similarity and Meta-analysis

Previous research demonstrated that viewers’ judgments of an interviewee are influenced by the nonverbal behavior of the interviewer. In studies of this media bias effect, judges view a short political interview with a friendly or a hostile interviewer, and then rate their impressions of the interviewee, whose behavior remains identical in all conditions. The present research utilizes the same design and materials to explore potential cognitive remedies, to investigate the effect of attitude similarity on media bias, and to meta-analyze seven replications of the media bias effect. In Study 1, a cognitive remedy in the form of an instruction to ignore the interviewer neutralized and even reversed the media bias effect. In Study 2, insertion of a brief segment depicting a “beaming” and relaxed interviewee also reversed the media bias effect. Study 3 demonstrated that negative ratings of the interviewee due to interviewer’s hostility were intensified when respondents considered the interviewee as “one of them” politically, and disappeared when he was perceived as “one of us”. Study 4 demonstrated the consistency of the media bias effect by meta-analyzing seven replications in different countries. Implications for nonverbal research and for media research concerning the consistency of the media bias effect and its amenability to remedy are discussed.     

INTERVIEWER GENDER AND GENDER ATTITUDES

This research addresses the effects of interviewer gender onresponses to a broad array of gender-related survey questions,using data from a probability sample of adults in the UnitedStates. We focus on whether gender-of-interviewer effects areevident, whether they vary by respondent gender, and whetherthey vary across several attitudinal domains relevant to genderinequality. While many items do not show statistically significantgender-of-interviewer effects, we document significant effectsacross a variety of items. When such effects are evident, theytend to involve both male and female respondents expressingmore egalitarian gender-related attitudes or greater criticismof existing gender inequalities to female interviewers. Malerespondents offer significantly different responses to maleand female interviewers on questions dealing with gender inequalityin employment. For female respondents, interviewer-gender effectsare evident for items addressing gender-related collective action,policy, and group interests. Using multivariate models thatallow us to represent both respondent-level and interviewer-levelvariables, we find that interviewer-gender effects are statisticallysignificant in most attitudinal domains but that the interactionbetween interviewer gender and respondent gender does not tendto be statistically significant. We consider the implicationsof these findings both for understanding the survey processand for understanding gender relations more generally.     

"Little" and "Big" Pictures in Our Heads: Race, Local Context, and Innumeracy About Racial Groups in the United States

Americans do not know what percentage of the nation's residentsare whites, blacks, Hispanics, Asians, and American Indians.Using the 2000 General Social Survey, I find that respondentsof all races underestimate the percentages of whites and overestimatethe percentages of racial/ethnic minority groups and multiracialAmericans in the United States; however, they perceive theirlocal communities quite differently. As a first step towardunderstanding this discrepancy, I test whether individuals’local surroundings serve as a source of information for theirpictures of the United States. I examine the relationship between"objective" data and respondents’ subjective perceptionsof where they live, and compare their respective effects onAmericans’ perceptions of the nation. Multivariate multilevelanalyses show that respondents’ perceptions of differentracial group sizes in their communities are the strongest predictorsof innumeracy at the national level, while "objective" racialcontext measured at the local level has less of an effect. Thesefindings have important implications for research on racialcontext, which assumes that census numbers for respondents’locales are good proxies for their perceptions of the size ofracial/ethnic groups in their communities. Furthermore, thesefindings suggest that scholars need to start thinking aboutwhy whites and non-whites have similar "big pictures" of thenation, why their "little pictures" vary a great deal, and whythe motivations for over- and underestimation may differ byracial/ethnic group.     

Interviewer as instrument: accounting for human factors in evaluation research

This methodological study examines an original data collection model designed to incorporate human factors and enhance data richness in qualitative and evaluation research. Evidence supporting this model is drawn from in-depth youth and adult interviews in one of the largest policy/program evaluations undertaken in the United States, the Drug, Alcohol, and Tobacco Education evaluation (77 districts, 118 schools). When applying the explicit observation technique (EOT)--the strategic and nonjudgmental disclosure of nonverbal human factor cues by the interviewer to the respondent during interview--data revealed the observation disclosure pattern. Here, respondents linked perceptions with policy or program implementation or effectiveness evidence. Although more research is needed, it is concluded that the EOT yields richer data when compared with traditional semistructured interviews and, thus, holds promise to enhance qualitative and evaluation research methods. Validity and reliability as well as qualitative and evaluation research considerations are discussed.     

Shaping Clients' Answers: Departures from neutrality in care-staff interviews with people with a learning disability

What can happen when care staff interview clients with a learning disability? We examine tape-recordings of five questionnaire-based interviews designed to yield information on the clients' perceptions of the quality of the service provided to them. Of interest was the way in which the care staff, who were not formally trained in interview skills, delivered the 42-item questionnaire that formed the basis for the interview. It was discovered that interviewers replicated a number of non-neutral practices previously identified in a set of similar interviews administered by formally-trained professionals. They also introduced further deviations from neutral interviewing. The effect of these practices on the information recorded as the respondents' answers is discussed. We note that any interviewer is faced with a dilemma of choosing between literal (but potentially robotic and insensitive) and tailored (but potentially unstandardised and invalid) administration of a questionnaire. We argue that the deviations we see here show the interviewers falling on the side of 'liberal' administration. The net effect was arguably to prompt 'better' answers. When what is being recorded is an 'audit' of services provided to respondents, there is a real-life danger that their perceptions are being improved by what is ostensibly a neutral interview.     

The “Other” Effects of Psychotropic Medication: Social Workers’ Perspectives on the Psychosocial Effects of Medication Treatment on Adolescent Clients

This study explores social workers’ perspectives on the psychosocial effects of psychotropic drug treatment of their adolescent clients. Using a mail survey, we asked a national sample of experienced clinical social workers to answer questions about their perceptions of the effects of such treatment on the sense of self and social well-being of an adolescent client. The survey questions also explored associations between perceived psychosocial medication effects and characteristics of the client and the treatment. The findings suggested that social workers viewed medication treatment as having greater beneficial than harmful psychosocial effects on their adolescent clients, but that both effects existed simultaneously. The most important factors associated with the perceived effects of medication that emerged from social workers’ reports included the etiology of the disorder, the type of drug treatment and its effectiveness in addressing symptoms, the client’s “competence,” and the quality of the relationship between the client and the treating social worker. This study provides direction for future research on a neglected but important question. It would be helpful to broaden the scope of professional discourse on the advantages and disadvantages of psychopharmacologic treatment for youth beyond the effectiveness or safety of the treatment to include questions concerning clinicians’ perceptions of the effects of drug treatment on youths’ sense of self and social well-being.