Suchergebnisse

Der Arbeitsbericht diskutiert Auswirkungen unterschiedlicher Datenerhebungsmethoden auf die Antwortausprägungen der Befragten. Im Mittelpunkt der Erörterungen stehen die direkte Kommunikation in face-to-face-Situationen, Telefoninterviews und schriftliche Befragungen. Die jeweiligen Effekte werden durchgängig daraufhin reflektiert, inwieweit sie kognitiven und/ oder kommunikativen Prozessen zuzuordnen sind. Hingewiesen wird in diesem Zusammenhang auch darauf, daß ein komplexes Geflecht von Bedingungsfaktoren anzutreffen ist, weil nicht nur die Form der Präsentation von Fragen die Antwortausprägungen bestimmt, sondern gleichzeitig die Organisation der Befragung selbst die Anordnung und Formulierung der Untersuchungsfragen ein Stück weit determiniert, so daß unterschiedliche Antwortausprägungen durch die Anlage der Untersuchung selbst bestimmt sein können. (GF)

The validity of R reports concerning the signing of an initiative petition is explored through data from two sources, both relating to an Idaho ballot initiative of 1978. Questionnaire data were obtained in early 1979 from 196 randomly chosen petition signatories & from 718 randomly chosen state residents. In this case, self-reporting of political behavior seriously underestimates the true extent of the public's political involvement. Further, dependence on self-reported political participation distorts conclusions about both the sources & the consequences of participation. 3 Tables. Modified HA.

Umfragen zur contingent valuation (CV) werden als methodisches Instrumentarium dazu eingesetzt, den Wert von Dienstleistungen oder Gütern ohne Marktwert zu bestimmen. Im wesentlichen werden Befragte aufgefordert, aufgrund einer detaillierten Beschreibung eines Gutes oder einer Dienstleistung eine Kostenbewertung durchzuführen, d.h. anzugeben, wieviel sie für dieses Gut bezahlen würden. Fragebogen solcher Art werden vor allem eingesetzt, um den passiven Wert natürlicher Ressourcen zu bestimmen, mit dem Ziel, Kosten-Nutzen-Analysen bzw. Schadensersatzberechnungen bei Umweltschäden wie sie etwa im Zusammenhang mit der Exxon Valdez-Ölkatastrophe aufgetreten sind, anzustellen. Im Rahmen der intensiven Diskussion um Kosten-Nutzen-Analysen z.B. innerhalb der amerikanischen Umweltpolitik, befaßt sich der Beitrag mit einigen kognitionspsychologischen Implikationen im Zusammenhang mit der CV. In Anlehnung an Ergebnisse der Einstellungsforschung berücksichtigen diese den Stellenwert von inneren Wahrnehmungsprozessen bei der Bewertung sowie die Abhängigkeit der Befragungsergebnisse von der Methode der Datensammlung. (ICH)

Previous research has documented effects of the order in which response choices are offered to Rs, using closed-ended survey items, but no theory of the psychological sources of these effects has yet been proposed. Such a theory, drawn from a variety of psychological research, is offered. Using data from a split-ballot experiment in the 1984 General Social Survey involving a variant of M. L. Kohn's parental values measure (Class and Conformity: A Study in Values, Homewood, Ill: Dorsey, 1969), some predictions are made about what kind of response order effect would be expected (a primacy effect), & among which Rs it should be strongest (those low in cognitive sophistication). These predictions are confirmed. The "form-resistant correlation" hypothesis is also tested. Although correlations between items are altered by changes in response order, the presence & nature of the latent value dimension underlying these responses is essentially unaffected. 5 Tables, 51 References. AA

High-quality data from large-scale surveys provide a solid basis for outstanding research in the social sciences. Because of the unique demands of survey measurement in terms of the resources and skills required, it should be viewed as a specific sector of the research data infrastructure. In Germany, large-scale surveys have been established both within and outside academia, and major new projects are underway. Clearly, the sector is expanding. There is a need to discuss future challenges, not only with a focus on individual large projects, but with a view to the sector of large-scale survey measurement in general. One aspect is the segmentation of large-scale survey measurement in Germany along institutional lines (statistical offices, ministerial or government agency research (Ressortforschung), public research institutions, and the academic community). Here, we recommend that an overall framework be developed covering all sub-sectors. A second aspect is the infrastructure required for largescale, high-quality data collection. In Germany (outside the sector of Statistical Offices), this infrastructure is provided by private survey organisations. We argue that these should be recognised as relevant actors within the research data infrastructure. They have to invest in technological and human resources in order to provide the professional services required, and they need conditions and forms of cooperation that encourage this investment.

"High-quality data from large-scale surveys provide a solid basis for outstanding research in the social sciences. Because of the unique demands of survey measurement in terms of the resources and skills required, it should be viewed as a specific sector of the research data infrastructure. In Germany, large-scale surveys have been established both within and outside academia, and major new projects are underway. Clearly, the sector is expanding. There is a need to discuss future challenges, not only with a focus on individual large projects, but with a view to the sector of large-scale survey measurement in general. One aspect is the segmentation of large-scale survey measurement in Germany along institutional lines (statistical offices, ministerial or government agency research (Ressortforschung), public research institutions, and the academic community). Here, we recommend that an overall framework be developed covering all sub-sectors. A second aspect is the infrastructure required for largescale, high-quality data collection. In Germany (outside the sector of Statistical Offices), this infrastructure is provided by private survey organisations. We argue that these should be recognised as relevant actors within the research data infrastructure. They have to invest in technological and human resources in order to provide the professional services required, and they need conditions and forms of cooperation that encourage this investment." [author's abstract]

Includes lists of addresses, items with prices, survey notes that include information about terrain. Mentions surveying a coal mine. BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE The Day Family were anglo Indian traders, on the Navajo Reservation in eastern Arizona. The collection includes the personal and business papers of Sam Day, Sr. (1845-1925) surveyor, Indian trader, legislator and United States Indian Commissioner; Anna Day, Sam Sr.'s wife (1872-1932); and of their children, Charles L. Day (1879-1918), Samuel Day, Jr. (1889-1944), United States deputy Marshall.

Measurement of an economic good by opinion survey constitutes a variant of the political opinion polls widely familiar from news reporting. The paper relates the minimum sample size needed for the survey measurement of a wealth-dependent parameter to the smallest sample for a political poll giving the same precision. Measuring a strongly wealth-dependent parameter by survey requires a sample size of ~2000 or more to provide precision equivalent to the 3% margin of error customary in UK political opinion polls. It is shown that the survey measurement of the "value of a prevented fatality" (VPF) used in the UK as a health and safety spending yardstick requires ~3000 people to be questioned. The analysis shows the actual sample size used, 167, to be inadequate. This adds to the problems besetting the UK VPF, as the method the surveyors used to interpret their data has already been shown invalid.

Abstract
Researchers have long known that the terms used in questions posed to respondents shape the answers they give. Processes underlying these differences have generally been attributed to respondents' interpretations of the questions (i.e., what do the terms lead them to focus on) and examined as a framing effect. Yet evidence that people often answer questions they do not fully understand means it is also possible that some of this difference may stem from respondents' ability to parse what the questions are asking about (i.e., do they comprehend the question). In three online survey experiments, we manipulate wordings for policy attitude questions about the DREAM Act, Trump's trade disputes, and the Affordable Care Act to assess how both question comprehension and interpretation depend on the wordings selected. We find that reported attitudes vary as a joint function of both processes. By comparing response patterns and simulating individuals' "informed responses" across wordings, we can disentangle differences due to incomplete understandings (and misunderstandings) from those attributable to partisan interpretations. Evidence that individuals with greater topical knowledge better recognize the similarity of different wordings confirms that some of the wording effect is associated not just with framing, but also with comprehension.

Contents -- Contents, Volume 2 -- Preface -- Part I. Background -- 1. Introduction -- 1.1 Origins of the Study -- 1.2 Domain of the Study: Objective and Subjective Phenomena -- 1.3 Subjectivity and ""Social Facts"" -- 1.4 Putting Surveys and Their Problems in Perspective -- 1.5 Organization of the Volume -- Part II. Uses and Abuses of Surveys -- 2. The Development and Contemporary Use of Subjective Surveys -- 2.1 The Development of the Survey Method -- 2.2 The Survey Enterprise -- 2.3 The Use of Subjective Survey Measurements -- 2.4 The Effects of Surveys and Polls

Contents -- Contents, Volume 1 -- Preface -- Part I. Measurement of Subjective Phenomena in the Social Sciences -- 1. Attitude Measurement in Psychology and Sociology: The Early Years - Jean M. Converse -- 2. Utility in Economics: A Survey of the Literature - J. G. Tulip Meeks -- 3. The Use of Survey Data in Basic Research in the Social Sciences - Stanley Presser -- Part II. Quasi-Facts -- 4. The Subjectivity of Ethnicity - Tom W. Smith -- 5. Measuring Employment and Unemployment - Barbara A. Bailar and Naomi D. Rothwell