Interviewer Effects in the Classification of Responses

Abstract

In the course of a larger study on interviewer effect in polling, tests were made to determine whether the device of having interviewers classify responses in the field gave results different from those obtained when responses were recorded verbatim. The data indicate that, with one exception, field classification does not alter the over-all results of a survey. There is a tendency, however, for inexperienced interviewers to allow their biases to enter into the classification procedure more than is the case with experienced interviewers. Herbert Stember is Study Director and Herbert Hyman is Research Associate, National Opinion Research Center, University of Chicago.