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Response Effects in Surveys

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Social Information Processing and Survey Methodology

Part of the book series: Recent Research in Psychology ((PSYCHOLOGY))

Abstract

Since the early 1940s, survey interviews have become the dominant method of data collection in empirical social research (Phillips, 1971; Kaase, Ott, & Scheuch, 1983). Despite the popularity of the survey interview, the processes underlying the responses to survey questions are not well understood, and a ”theory of asking questions” (Hyman, 1954) has never been developed. Thus, survey methodology today is characterised by rigorous knowledge about sampling procedures on the one hand, and a surprising lack of knowledge about the ”art” (sicl) of asking questions (e.g., Noelle-Neumann, 1963) on the other hand. Unfortunately, however, empirical research (e.g., Sudman & Bradburn, 1974) suggests that nonsampling error provides considerable limitations to the usefulness of survey data.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Surveys, Methods and Analysis, Mannheim, Germany

    Hans-J. Hippler

  2. University of Heidelberg, Germany

    Norbert Schwarz

Authors
  1. Hans-J. Hippler
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  2. Norbert Schwarz
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Zentrum für Umfragen, Methoden und Analysen, Mannheim, Germany

    Hans-J. Hippler (Project Director) (Project Director)

  2. Psychologisches Institut, Universität Heidelberg, 6900, Heidelberg, Germany

    Norbert Schwarz

  3. Departments of Business Administration and Sociology, Survey Research Laboratory, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 61801, Urbana, Illinois, USA

    Seymour Sudman

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© 1987 Springer-Verlag New York Inc.

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Hippler, HJ., Schwarz, N. (1987). Response Effects in Surveys. In: Hippler, HJ., Schwarz, N., Sudman, S. (eds) Social Information Processing and Survey Methodology. Recent Research in Psychology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-4798-2_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-4798-2_6

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-0-387-96570-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4612-4798-2

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