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The Reliability of Survey Attitude Measurement

dc.contributor.authorAlwin, Duane F.en_US
dc.contributor.authorKrosnick, Jon A.en_US
dc.date.accessioned2010-04-14T14:10:30Z
dc.date.available2010-04-14T14:10:30Z
dc.date.issued1991en_US
dc.identifier.citationALWIN, DUANE; KROSNICK, JON (1991). "The Reliability of Survey Attitude Measurement." Sociological Methods & Research 1(20): 139-181. <http://hdl.handle.net/2027.42/68969>en_US
dc.identifier.issn0049-1241en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/2027.42/68969
dc.description.abstractSeveral theoretical hypotheses are developed concerning the relation of question and respondent characteristics to the reliability of survey attitude measurement. To test these hypotheses, reliability is estimated for 96 survey attitude measures using data from five, 3-wave national reinterview surveys-three Michigan Election Panel Surveys and two reinterview studies conducted by the General Social Survey. As hypothesized, a number of attributes of questions are linked to estimated reliability. Attitude questions with more response options tended to have higher reliabilities, although there are some important exceptions. More extensive verbal labeling of numbered response options was found to be associated with higher reliability, but questions explicitly offering a “don't know” alternative were not found to be more reliable. Question characteristics were confounded to an unknown degree with topic differences of questions, which were significantly linked to reliability, leaving the influence of question characteristics on reliability somewhat ambiguous. Characteristics of respondents were also found to be related to levels of reliability. Older respondents and those with less schooling provided the least reliable attitude reports. These results are discussed within a general framework for the consideration of survey errors and their sources.en_US
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dc.format.extent3879223 bytes
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dc.publisherSAGE PUBLICATIONSen_US
dc.titleThe Reliability of Survey Attitude Measurementen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US
dc.subject.hlbsecondlevelSociologyen_US
dc.subject.hlbtoplevelSocial Sciencesen_US
dc.description.peerreviewedPeer Revieweden_US
dc.contributor.affiliationumUniversity of Michiganen_US
dc.contributor.affiliationotherOhio State Universityen_US
dc.description.bitstreamurlhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/68969/2/10.1177_0049124191020001005.pdf
dc.identifier.doi10.1177/0049124191020001005en_US
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