The Measurement of a Middle Position in Attitude Surveys |
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| Authors: | PRESSER STANLEY; SCHUMAN HOWARD |
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| Institution: | Stanley Presser is Research Associate, Institute for Research in Social Science, and Visiting Assistant Professor of Sociology, The University of North Carolina. Howard Schuman is Professor of Sociology and Program Director, Survey Research Center, The University of Michigan. This research was supported by grants from the National Science Foundation (Soc76-15040) and the National Institute of Mental Health (MH-24266).'We are grateful to Jean M. Converse and Jacob Ludwig HI for commenting on an earlier draft. At various points, Otis Dudley Duncan, Graham Kalton, and William M. Mason provided valuable help with problems related to our analysis, though the authors alone are responsible for any errors. An earlier version was presented at the 1978 American Statistical Association Meetings. |
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| Abstract: | Five split-ballot experiments, plus replications, were carriedout in several national surveys to compare the effects of offeringor omitting a middle alternative in forced-choice attitude questions.Explicitly offering a middle position significantly increasesthe size of that category, but tends not to otherwise affectunivariate distributions. The relation of intensity to the middleposition is somewhat greater on Offered forms than on Omittedforms (less intense respondents being more affected by questionform than those who feel more strongly), but in general formdoes not alter the relationship between an item and a numberof other respondent characteristics. Finally, in one instancethere is evidence that form can change the conclusion aboutwhether two attitude items are related, but the results areof uncertain reliability. |
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