Charles F. Cannell

Research on Interviewing Techniques

The survey interviewer, as gatekeeper to the attitudes, experiences, and perceptions of respondents, occupies a prominent position in survey research and has been a subject of concern since the emergence of systematic survey research. Recognition of the interviewers potential for manipulating or distorting responses has generated numerous approaches aimed at controlling the interviewers influence on responses. Over the years, rules for interviewer behavior have evolved

The dynamics of interviewing : theory, technique, and cases

The dynamics of interviewing; theory, technique, and cases , The dynamics of interviewing; theory, technique, and cases , کتابخانه دیجیتال و فن آوری اطلاعات دانشگاه امام صادق(ع)

Interviewers' Voices and Refusal Rates in Telephone Surveys

As SURVEY RESEARCH uses telephone interviews more extensively, new methodological problems become apparent. One problem is response rates, which are generally lower than for face-to-face interviews. The reasons for the lower response rates are not known. Refusals in faceto-face interviews are often attributed not only to the content but to the respondents perception of the interviewer during initial introductory phrases and impressions based on his or her appearance. In phone interviews these latter cues are absent, and auditory stimuli are the sole basis for evaluation. This implies that characteristics of voice and speech patterns provide major bases for first impressions, and may relate to acceptance or rejection of the interview. In listening to telephone interviewers at work one is impressed with their unique speech characteristics. Further, interviewers are characterized by high or low response rates, and they tend to maintain their

COMPARISON OF A SELF-ENUMERATIVE PROCEDURE AND A PERSONAL INTERVIEW: A VALIDITY STUDY

An important mark of professional competence is a sophisticated and critical attitude toward the procedures that are used in the performance of professional functions. The best examples of social research have increasingly exhibited this attitude both in the reports of particular projects and in special research inquiries aimed primarily at testing and improving the research procedures that are in common use. It would seem that the greatest progress has been made in the development of scales of measurement and sampling procedures, but important progress has also been made in tests of the validity of the data produced by surveys and other research inquiries. Here is a unique study of the validity of two procedures for obtaining data in surveys. Charles F. Cannell is Program Director and Director of the Field Staff at the Survey Research Center of the University of Michigan and co-author with Robert L. Kahn of a book, The Dynamics of Interviewing. Floyd J. Fowler is an Assistant Study Director at the Survey Research Center and is enrolled in the Doctoral Program in Social Psychology at the University of Michigan.

Effects of Interview Mode on Reporting of Moods, Symptoms, and Need for Social Approval

Summary This investigation was concerned with the differences between personal and telephone interviews in the reporting of moods and symptoms indicative of mental health status, and of social desirability. Using indices derived from the Lubin Depression Adjective Checklist, the Langner Scale, and the Crowne-Marlowe need for social approval scale, the findings show that personal interviews (n = 961) elicited greater reporting of mental health symptoms and less reporting of need for approval than telephone interviews (n = 206). In subdividing the above scales, it was found that the large reporting differences between personal and telephone interview groups were in the “moderately private” items.

The Impact of Health News on Attitudes and Behavior

A survey carried out in Ann Arbor by a team of University of Michigan researchers offers some evidence on the impact of mass media upon attitudes and behavior. The objective was to determine the effect of information supplied by the mass media regarding the possible relationship of smoking to cancer.

A Note on Interviewer Effect in Self-Enumerative Procedures

Most researchers are aware of the possibility of interviewer bias in personal interviews. In contrast, it is commonly assumed that data from self-enumerative procedures are free of such effects. Information collected in a study of the accuracy with which hospitalizations are reported, however, has led us to question the validity of this assumption. A sample of hospital records was selected, consisting of about 800 persons who had been hosptialized during the year preceding the period of data collection. The family names and addresses of these persons were assigned randomly to one of two data collection procedures; and within the procedures, assignments to interviewers were randomized. Both procedures began with a personal interview, using identical questions on demographic characteristics, illnesses, and other health events. In one procedure the interview ended with questions about hospitalizations for each family member during the preceding year. In the second procedure the questions about hospitalizations were omitted from the interview schedule and placed in a self-

The Impact of the 1955-56 Detroit Newspaper Strike

Interviews with Detroiters following a 46-day strike which shut down the citys three newspapers showed that the only content of the newspaper missed by a majority of readers was the hard news. Advertising ranked second. Data on substitutions of other media for newspapers are given also.