EXPERIMENTS WITH THE MIDDLE RESPONSE ALTERNATIVE IN SURVEY QUESTIONS

A series of experiments shows (1) that people are significantlymore likely to select the middle response alternative on anissue when it is explicitly offered to them as part of the questionthan when it is omitted; (2) that merely mentioning that thereis a middle alternative, in the preface to the question, makesit more likely that respondents will select it, even thoughit is not offered to them as an explicit choice; (3) that theorder in which the middle alternative is presented in the question—inthe middle or last position—can make a significant differencein the results, but that a "recency bias" does not occur invariably,or consistently; and (4) that people who select a middle responsealternative when it is offered would not necessarily answerthe question in the same way as other respondents if forcedto choose sides on the issue.     

"SECRET BALLOTS" AND SELF-REPORTS IN AN EXIT-POLL EXPERIMENT

A controlled exit-poll experiment on Election Day (November3, 1992) shows that refusals to answer questions and other evasiveforms of responding were significantly lower when respondentswere given a self-administered "secret-ballot" questionnairethan when they were interviewed face-to-face. While there weresome suggestive interactions of this mode-of-data collectioneffect with age and sex, and with the partisan atmosphere ofthe precinct in which the interviews were conducted, they wereborderline in significance, inconsistent in pattern, or difficuitto interpret. More important, comparisons with official electionreturns (the truth) indicated that the secret-ballot techniquewas more accurate than were face-to-face interviews in estimatingthe final outcome on the most socially sensitive of three self-reportedvotes: a vote for or against a tax levy for elderly services.Using a genuine secret ballot in the tradition of the olderGallup preelection polls can thus increase the validity of self-reportsin exit polls today.     

THE COASE THEOREM: ASSUMPTIONS, APPLICATIONS AND AMBIGUITIES

The consequence is that, whereas the normal way of testing a theory in positive economics is to test its conclusions, the normal way of testing a welfare proposition is to test its assumptions. The significance of this should not be overlooked. In positive economics we often simplify our assumptions as cavalierly as we please, being confident in the knowledge that their appropriateness will be tested when we come to apply the conclusions inherent in them to our observations of the world about us. In welfare economics we can entertain no such confidence. The result is that our assumptions must be scrutinized with care and thoroughness.     

On Patient Satisfaction in Cerebral Palsy Care

Correspondence to Professor W. G. Kernohan, Room 12J08, University of Ulster, Newtownabbey BT37 0QB Summary The value of managing teamwork in health care is well recognized.Yet, for a variety of reasons, it often fails to provide thedegree of support required. To investigate the capacity forall-round service provision in Northern Ireland, a survey wascarried out to obtain both quantitative and qualitative dataon the degree of social and health care support for familieswith a child affected by cerebral palsy, one of the most seriousorthopaedic disorders. Results suggest that, while clinicalmedical care is generally good, the role of social support inhealthcare management seems poorly defined, fragmented and variable.     

INTRACOUNTRY EVIDENCE ON THE LUCAS VARIANCE HYPOTHESIS

Intracountry time-series evidence for a sample of thirty-nine countries fails to provide strong support for the basic implications of the Lucas aggregate supply model, namely: there exists a negative relationship between the output-inflation tradeoff and the variability of both nominal aggregate demand and the rate of inflation, and a positive relationship exists between the variabilities of the inflation rate and aggregate demand. The findings differ from those of most of the previous cross-sectional studies, which found support for the Lucas variance hypotheses, but are consistent with Froyen and Waud's [1980; 1984].     

ISSUE INVOLVEMENT AND RESPONSE EFFECTS IN PUBLIC OPINION SURVEYS

This research tests the widespread assumption that responseeffects due to variations in question form, wording, or contextwill be greatest among respondents who are least involved withan issue. A meta-analysis of results from 15 split-ballot experimentsconducted over a five-year period indicates that the responseeffects of using counterarguments or middle alternatives insurvey questions are significantly larger, as would be expected,among respondents who are less involved with a given issue thanamong those who are highly involved with it. But the effectsof question order and response order appear to be largely unrelatedto how involved a respondent is with a particular issue. Issueinvolvement, then, appears to specify some response effects,but not others.     

Explaining the Identifiable Victim Effect

It is widely believed that people are willing to expend greater resources to save the lives of identified victims than to save equal numbers of unidentified or statistical victims. There are many possible causes of this disparity which have not been enumerated previously or tested empirically. We discuss four possible causes of the identifiable victim effect and present the results of two studies which indicate that the most important cause of the disparity in treatment of identifiable and statistical lives is that, for identifiable victims, a high proportion of those at risk can be saved.     

STABILIZATION POLICY: A RECONSIDERATION

Should stabilization policy be a macroeconomic priority? Most central banks consider it a goal, but Robert Lucas has contended that policies to stabilize output, even if effective, yield negligible welfare gains. This article critiques Lucas's argument. Existing literature suggests nontrivial benefits from stabilization due to nonlinearity of the social welfare function and of the short‐run Phillips curve. Our analysis and examination of the evidence from periods of prolonged high unemployment also suggest further significant gains to stabilization since the “accelerationist” hypothesis does not seem to hold in times of very low inflation. (JEL E61, E63)     

THE EFFICACY OF STATE MANDATED MINIMUM QUALITY CERTIFICATION: THE CASE OF USED VEHICLES

This paper investigates whether the quality certification required by certain state used vehicle disclosure laws has been effective. Metzger concluded from a theoretical investigation of non-market responses to the lemons problem, that such laws may or may not be effective. We have been unable to find evidence that the currently mandated disclosure requirements in Wisconsin (known defects provision) and Iowa (safety certification) are effective in increasing the number of good quality vehicles traded in those used markets. These disclosure requirements do not seem to decrease a prospective buyer's risk of purchasing a lemon.