RESPONSE-TIME MEASUREMENT IN SURVEY RESEARCH A METHOD FOR CATI AND A NEW LOOK AT NONATTITUDES

The paper introduces a methodology for measuring accuratelythe time it takes respondents to answer questions in computer-assistedtelephone surveys. The methodology, which is completely invisibleto respondents, comprises a computer "clock," capable of timingresponses with millisecond accuracy, and a "voice-key" thatconverts sounds emitted by respondents into signals capableof triggering the computer clock. Response times to questionson a range of attitude questions, including stable and unstableattitudes, were measured. The results revealed orderly normsin the latencies associated with various types of survey questions.The latencies associated with the expression of stable and unstableattitudes are discussed in the context of the notion of "nonattitudes"and shed new light on this controversial thesis. Overall, ourresults demonstrate that response latencies can be measuredprecisely and reliably in telephone surveys and that the datafrom such measurement open new windows on the cognitive dynamicsof survey responses.     

MAIL SURVEYS FOR ELECTION FORECASTING?: AN EVALUATION OF THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH POLL

Because of slow turnaround time and typically low response rates,mail surveys have generally been considered of little valuein election forecasting. However, statewide mail surveys conductedby the Columbus Dispatch newspaper since 1980 have made remarkablyaccurate forecasts of Ohio election outcomes. In comparisonto statewide surveys by two other organizations employing conventionaltelephone interview methods, the mail surveys were consistentlymore accurate and were generally less susceptible to sourcesof inaccuracy such as high rolloff and low publicity. The mailsurvey's advantage is attributable at least in part to largersample sizes, sampling and response procedures that yieldedmore representative samples of voters, lack of the need to allocateundecided respondents, and superior questionnaire design. Thesefindings suggest that mail surveys not only may be viable alternativesto telephone surveys but may actually be superior to them undersome conditions. Further-more, these results demonstrate thatsurveys with low response rates are not necessarily low in validity.     

Reflections on Public Sociology: Public Relations, Disciplinary Identity, and the Strong Program in Professional Sociology

Public sociology is an attempt to redress the issues of public engagement and disciplinary identity that have beset the discipline over the past several decades. While public sociology seeks to rectify the public invisibility of sociology, this paper investigates the limitations of it program. Several points of critique are offered. First, public sociology's affiliations with Marxism serve to potentially entrench existing divisions within the discipline. Second, public sociology's advancement of an agenda geared toward a "sociology for publics" instead of a "sociology of publics" imposes limitations on the development of a public interface. Third, the lack of a methodological agenda for public sociology raises concerns of how sociology can compete within a contested climate of public opinion. Fourth, issues of disciplinary coherence are not necessarily resolved by public sociology, and are potentially exacerbated by the invocation of public sociology as a new disciplinary identity. Fifth, the incoherence of professional sociology is obviated, and a misleading affiliation is made between scientific knowledge and the hegemonic structure of the profession. Finally, the idealism of public sociology's putative defense of civil society is explored as a utopian gesture akin to that of Habermas' attempt to revive the public sphere. The development of a strong program in professional sociology is briefly offered as a means to repair the disciplinary problems that are illustrated by emergence of the project of public sociology.     

EFFECTS OF INTERVIEWER GENDER, INTERVIEWER CHOICE, AND ITEM WORDING ON RESPONSES TO QUESTIONS CONCERNING SEXUAL BEHAVIOR

We examined factors influencing responses to questions on sexualbehavior among adult respondents 18–49 years old (unweightedN = 2,030) obtained through a random-digit dialing survey. Basedon self-disclosure and perceived control the ory, we hypothesizedthat giving people a choice in selecting the gender of theirinterviewer rather than being assigned an inter viewer, andusing questions that are "supportive" of what may be perceivedof as nonnormative behavior (enhanced items), would increasedata quality relative to, respectively, matched-or opposite-genderinterviewer conditions and standard worded items. The enhanceditems facilitated responding to a number of sensitive topics.However, the effects of item wording on item response are oftenmediated by interviewer conditions. The "choice" results suggestthat giving respondents greater control decreases question threat.However, the overall findings argue for matching respondentsand interviewers on gender over opposite-gender interviewersor allowing respondents to select their interviewer's gender.Wording and interviewer manipulations reduced the discrepanciesbetween men's and women's self-reports of sexual behavior, butthey did not eliminate them, and in some cases they had no effect.The present findings suggest that males tend to be influencedby variations in item wording, interviewer gender, and respondentcontrol across a somewhat wider range of sexual topics. In general,the findings recommend matching respondents and interviewerson gender and the use of more supportive wording in sexual behaviorquestions. However, for assessment of some topics (e.g., sexualviolence) in particular segments of the population (e.g., men),other procedures, such as increasing respondent control, maybe a better choice. Overall, the data support the view thatin terms of preferred procedures, not all sexual topics arecreated equal.     

MASS AND ELITE ATTITUDES ABOUT WIRETAPPING IN CANADA: IMPLICATIONS FOR DEMOCRATIC THEORY AND POLITICS

Evidence from a recent study of Canadian attitudes toward civilliberties indicates that the issue of wiretapping presents animportant exception to the familiar theory of democratic elitism.Ironically, the very sophistication and knowledge that leadselites to support individual rights and freedoms also makesthem more likely to support wiretapping than the Canadian populationas a whole.     

THE EFFECTIVE UNIT OF THE POISSON DISTRIBUTION AND DEMAND FORECASTING

This short paper deals with some of the difficulties which have been found in applying the effective unit concept of estimating the Poisson distribution in order to forecast demand in a major industry. It points to two special cases in which the common formulation produces misleading results, discusses the frequency with which these two special cases could be expected to occur based on this one major industry, and proposes some pragmatic solutions to the problems resulting.     

Stressors and Strains amongst Social Workers: Demands, Supports, Constraints, and Psychological Health

Correspondence to Fiona Jones, Hatfield Polytechnic, College Lane, Hatfield, Herts AL109AB. Summary This article describes an empirical study of the work stressorsand psychological strains experienced by social workers in Hertfordshire.A questionnaire, based on Payne's (1979) model of occupationalstress, investigated the perceived Demands, Supports, and Constraintsof the work, including threats and violence in addition to moresubjective perceptions of pressure. The research aimed to establishthe extent and nature of stress amongst social workers and topinpoint the specific features of the work which are associatedwith particularly poor levels of psychological health. It alsoaimed to suggest possible courses of action to alleviate excessivepressure. The research showed that while the social workers found theirjob satisfying, they perceived the work as very pressured andfelt that the pressure adversely affected the service they provided.The psychological health measures indicated that levels of generalanxiety were particularly high. The most highly stressed workersperceived their jobs as more demanding and less supportive andestimated that they took twice as much sick leave. Certain specificdemands and supports were shown to be important in predictingpsychological health. Various recommendations are made aimedat alleviating strain by reducing demands and constraints andincreasing supports.