Stanley Presser

Bio: Stanley Presser is an academic researcher from University of Maryland, College Park. The author has contributed to research in topics: Contingent valuation & Non-response bias. The author has an hindex of 40, co-authored 93 publications receiving 15210 citations. Previous affiliations of Stanley Presser include National Science Foundation & University of Michigan.

Questions and Answers in Attitude Surveys: Experiments on Question Form, Wording, and Context

Abstract: Scope and Method Question Order and Response Order Open versus Closed Questions The Assessment of No Opinion The Fine Line between Attitudes and Nonattitudes Measuring a Middle Position Balance and Imbalance in Questions The Acquiescence Quagmire Passionate Attitudes Intensity, Centrality, and Committed Action Attitude Strength and the Concept of Crystallization Tone of Wording Some Final Thoughts on Survey Research and Research on Surveys Appendix A: Mysteries of Replication and Non-Replication Appendix B: Special Sampling and Interviewing Problems Appendix C: Education and Information Measures Appendix D: Additional Items and Codes Bearing on Acquiescence

Consequences of Reducing Nonresponse in a National Telephone Survey

Abstract: Critics of public opinion polls often claim that methodological shortcuts taken to collect timely data produce biased results This study compares two random digit dial national telephone surveys that used identical questionnaires but very different levels of effort: a "Standard" survey conducted over a 5-day period that used a sample of adults who were home when the interviewer called, and a "Rigorous" survey conducted over an 8-week period that used random selection from among all adult household members Response rates, computed according to AAPOR guidelines, were 606 percent for the Rigorous and 360 percent for the Standard study Nonetheless, the two surveys produced similar results Across 91 comparisons, no difference exceeded 9 percentage points, and the average difference was about 2 percentage points Most of the statistically significant differences were among demographic items Very few significant differences were found on attention to media and engagement in politics, social trust and connectedness, and most social and political attitudes, including even those toward surveys

Social Desirability Bias in CATI, IVR, and Web Surveys The Effects of Mode and Question Sensitivity

Abstract: Although it is well established that self-administered ques- tionnaires tend to yield fewer reports in the socially desirable direction than do interviewer-administered questionnaires, less is known about whether different modes of self-administration vary in their effects on socially desirable responding In addition, most mode comparison stud- ies lack validation data and thus cannot separate the effects of differ- ential nonresponse bias from the effects of differences in measurement error This paper uses survey and record data to examine mode effects on the reporting of potentially sensitive information by a sample of re- cent university graduates Respondents were randomly assigned to one of three modes of data collection—conventional computer-assisted tele- phone interviewing (CATI), interactive voice recognition (IVR), and the Web—and were asked about both desirable and undesirable attributes of their academic experiences University records were used to evaluate the accuracy of the answers and to examine differences in nonresponse bias by mode Web administration increased the level of reporting of sensi- tive information and reporting accuracy relative to conventional CATI, with IVR intermediate between the other two modes Both mode of data collection and the actual status of the respondent influenced whether respondents found an item sensitive

The Effects of Response Rate Changes on the Index of Consumer Sentiment

Abstract: From 1979 to 1996, the Survey of Consumer Attitudes response rate remained roughly 70 percent. But number of calls to complete an interview and proportion of interviews requiring refusal conversion doubled. Using call-record histories, we explore what the consequences of lower response rates would have been if these additional efforts had not been undertaken. Both number of calls and initially cooperating (vs. initially refusing) are related to the Index of Consumer Sentiment (ICS), but only number of calls survives a control for demographic characteristics. We assess the impact of excluding respondents who required refusal conversion (which reduces the response rate 5-10 percentage points), respondents who required more than five calls to complete the interview (reducing the response rate about 25 percentage points), and those who required more than two calls (a reduction of about 50 percentage points). We found no effect of excluding any of these respondent groups on cross-sectional estimates of the ICS using monthly samples of hundreds of cases. For yearly estimates, based on thousands of cases, the exclusion of respondents who required more calls (though not of initial refusers) had an effect, but a very small one. One of the exclusions generally affected estimates of change over time in the ICS, irrespective of sample size.

Sources of Method Bias in Social Science Research and Recommendations on How to Control It

Abstract: Despite the concern that has been expressed about potential method biases, and the pervasiveness of research settings with the potential to produce them, there is disagreement about whether they really are a problem for researchers in the behavioral sciences. Therefore, the purpose of this review is to explore the current state of knowledge about method biases. First, we explore the meaning of the terms “method” and “method bias” and then we examine whether method biases influence all measures equally. Next, we review the evidence of the effects that method biases have on individual measures and on the covariation between different constructs. Following this, we evaluate the procedural and statistical remedies that have been used to control method biases and provide recommendations for minimizing method bias.

Short screening scales to monitor population prevalences and trends in non-specific psychological distress.

Abstract: Background. A 10-question screening scale of psychological distress and a six-question short-form scale embedded within the 10-question scale were developed for the redesigned US National Health Interview Survey (NHIS). Methods. Initial pilot questions were administered in a US national mail survey (N fl 1401). A reduced set of questions was subsequently administered in a US national telephone survey (N fl 1574). The 10-question and six-question scales, which we refer to as the K10 and K6, were constructed from the reduced set of questions based on Item Response Theory models. The scales were subsequently validated in a two-stage clinical reappraisal survey (N fl 1000 telephone screening interviews in the first stage followed by N fl 153 face-to-face clinical interviews in the second stage that oversampled first-stage respondents who screened positive for emotional problems) in a local convenience sample. The second-stage sample was administered the screening scales along with the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID). The K6 was subsequently included in the 1997 (N fl 36116) and 1998 (N fl 32440) US National Health Interview Survey, while the K10 was included in the 1997 (N fl 10641) Australian National Survey of Mental Health and Well-Being. Results. Both the K10 and K6 have good precision in the 90th‐99th percentile range of the population distribution (standard errors of standardized scores in the range 0‐20‐0‐25) as well as consistent psychometric properties across major sociodemographic subsamples. The scales strongly discriminate between community cases and non-cases of DSM-IV}SCID disorders, with areas under the Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve of 0‐87‐0‐88 for disorders having Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) scores of 0‐70 and 0‐95‐0‐96 for disorders having GAF scores of 0‐50. Conclusions. The brevity, strong psychometric properties, and ability to discriminate DSM-IV cases from non-cases make the K10 and K6 attractive for use in general-purpose health surveys. The scales are already being used in annual government health surveys in the US and Canada as well as in the WHO World Mental Health Surveys. Routine inclusion of either the K10 or K6 in clinical studies would create an important, and heretofore missing, crosswalk between community and clinical epidemiology.

Physical activity in the United States measured by accelerometer.

Abstract: Purpose:To describe physical activity levels of children (6-11 yr), adolescents (12-19 yr), and adults (20+ yr), using objective data obtained with accelerometers from a representative sample of the U.S. population.Methods:These results were obtained from the 2003-2004 National Health and Nu

Confirmation Bias: A Ubiquitous Phenomenon in Many Guises:

Abstract: Confirmation bias, as the term is typically used in the psychological literature, connotes the seeking or interpreting of evidence in ways that are partial to existing beliefs, expectations, or a h...