ERIC Number: EJ1189004
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2018
Pages: 20
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1364-5579
EISSN: N/A
The Influence of Interviewer Characteristics on Support for Democracy and Political Engagement in Sub-Saharan Africa
Lau, Charles Q.
International Journal of Social Research Methodology, v21 n4 p467-486 2018
This study investigates how an interviewer's characteristics affect how respondents answer survey questions about democracy and political engagement. I analyze data from the 2008 Afrobarometer surveys, in which 810 interviewers surveyed 27,713 respondents across 20 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Using these data, I study how interviewer education, age, and gender affect two outcomes: (1) response distributions to attitudinal and behavioral survey questions and (2) the likelihood of respondents saying 'don't know' to a survey question. The analysis also investigates how the respondent's perception of who sponsored the survey (NGO, private sector, government) affects attitudes. The results show that these interviewer characteristics affect the quality of survey data on political attitudes and behaviors. In the discussion, I consider the implications for research based on public opinion data about democracy and political engagement.
Descriptors: Democracy, Foreign Countries, Citizen Participation, Political Attitudes, Social Desirability, Public Opinion, Interviews, Questioning Techniques, Influences
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Africa; Benin; Botswana; Burkina Faso; Cabo Verde; Ghana; Kenya; Lesotho; Liberia; Madagascar; Malawi; Mozambique; Namibia; Nigeria; Senegal; South Africa; Tanzania; Uganda; Zambia; Zimbabwe; Mali
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A