The Effect of Cost and Importance Factors on the Return Rate for Single and Multiple Mailings

Employing an experimental design, the effectiveness of costand importance factors on the return rate for mail questionnairesis analyzed. Importance factors, notably certified mail, areshown to be of greatest consequence.     

Interviewing Older Adults: A Comparison of Telephone and Face-to-Face Modalities

This article examines telephone interviewing of older adultsand compares it with face-to-face interviews. Specifically,the following issues are examined in several national surveys:(1) differences in age distributions between the samples ofadults reached in both modes; (2) explanations for potentialdifferences in age distributions; (3) differences between thetwo modes in demographic characteristics in the adults reached,in interview process and in response quality, and how thesemode differences vary by age of the respondents. Telephone surveystend to underrepresent older persons, and older persons whodo participate in a telephone survey are disproportion atelywell educated. Implications of the lower response rate amongolder persons are softened by the fact that reponse distributionsacross a range of questions show little difference by interviewmode between older persons and persons of other age groups.     

A Longitudinal Study of Adolescents' Attitude-Behavior Consistency

The attitudes and self-reported behaviors of outgoingness towardother people among a group of over 100 male adolescents weremeasured each semester for the last five semesters of high school.Cross-lagged panel correlation differences show a tendency (sevenof nine times) for attitudes to be nonspuriously antecedentto behaviors. During the first three semesters different observationalcomposites of behaviors correlated positively with the self-reportedmeasures of behaviors. Theoretical implications of these findingsare discussed from the perspective of social adaptation theory.A distinction is drawn between assimilatory and accommodativesituations. It is suggested that attitudes and behaviors aremore likely to be consistent in assimilatory than accommodativesituations.     

MYTHS, ADMONITIONS AND RATIONALITY: THE AMERICAN INDIAN AS A RESOURCE MANAGER

As concern over natural resource management has increased, modern societies have been warned that a new, less materialistic ethic will be required for man's survival. The American Indian cultures have been prominent among the ideals mentioned. This paper puts forth and cites evidence to support the economic arguments that incentives matter most. Ethical considerations are important to the extent that they influence institutions, which are crucial in determining incentives. Indian use of private property rights, and the problems caused when that solution was impractical, are featured.     

Self-Interest and Civilians' Attitudes Toward the Vietnam War

The possible consequences of self-interest on American publicopinion were examined in the context of the United States militaryinvolvement in Vietnam Civilians' personal connections to thewar, in terms of their friends' and relatives' military service,did make them pay more attention to the war, but such connectionsseemed to have only weak effects on the salience of the waras a political issue. Similarly, there was no evidence thatthe self-interested had distinctively self-serving policy attitudestoward the war. Rather, the more important determinants of attitudestoward the war were attitudes toward various political symbolsassociated with the war. Finally, self-interest made very littledifference in enhancing the consistency of partisan attitudesinvolved in the 1968 presidential decision.