Search results

AbstractLast November, after a hiatus of more than 30 years, approximately 1,000 Cincinnati voters were invited to select candidates for city council using the Hare System of Proportional Representation (PR) In a unique exit‐poll experiment. The result: re‐adoption of PR in Cincinnati would necessitate changes in 1) how campaigns are conducted. 2) the size of party tickets, and 3) who gets elected. It might also affect how the city is governed.

Extent to which random digit dialing telephone surveys can replicate results of surveys which use a complex sampling design and personal interviewing; based on a survey of crime victimization in Cincinnati, Ohio.

A report on the replication of a large, personal interview survey by means of a random digit dialing (RDD) telephone survey. The objective was to test the accuracy & efficiency of RDD surveys in comparison to the best traditional alternative. The personal interview survey was based on a complex probability sample of Cincinnati households, with the field work being done by the Census Bureau during Jan through Mar 1974. It was commissioned by the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration (LEAA) to collect information on crime victimizations, attitudes toward police, & perceptions of crime problems. All persons ages 12 & older (N = 19,903) from 9,708 households were interviewed. The Behavioral Sciences Laboratory at the U of Cincinnati, Ohio conducted the RDD telephone survey during Apr 1974 under a grant from the Police Foundation. The RDD questionnaire consisted of a large subset of items from the LEAA/Census instrument. It was administered to 1,639 persons in 800 households citywide, plus a supplemental sample of 1,147 persons from 662 households located in Police District 1 (a poor, rundown section of the city). The samples were compared on demographic characteristics, measures of crime victimization, & attitudes toward crime & the police. Chi-square & t-tests were used, as required, to test for sample differences. For the citywide sample, only education & perception of changes in US crime levels were significantly different at the .01 level, out of 20 tests made. The RDD sample had somewhat larger proportions of blacks & Fs. The RDD telephone survey was much less expensive per interview & permitted better supervision of the interviewers. These results indicate that RDD is an accurate & cost-effective alternative to traditional personal interviewing surveys for most research applications. 2 Tables. AA.

A multiple classification analysis was used to investigate the social-structural sources of popular division on the law & order issue. Data from the Center for Political Studies' 1970 & 1972 election surveys were used. Results revealed that (1) values were sharply defined by race, (2) elderly, farmers, the lesser educated, Republicans, white southerners, & fundamentalist Protestants displayed the most traditional, hard-line views on law & order, & (3) the widely accepted notion that Wc whites are most strongly in favor of law & order was not supported by the data. Multiple discriminant analysis was utilized to evaluate the importance of law & order as a campaign issue from 1968 to 1972. It was found that the issue did not become a pivot around which major partisan realignments could occur. 5 Tables. Modified HA.

Previous studies have shown that a substantial number of people will offer opinions on fictitious topics in the context of a survey interview. The results of a split-ballot experiment (& a replication) with three fictitious public affairs issues suggest that people give opinions on such matters in large part because of the pressure to answer survey questions that is created by the way in which the questions are asked & by the manner in which "don't know" responses are handled by the interviewer. Findings of the telephone interview surveys (N not given) also indicate that there may be little or no relationship between an individual's willingness to admit ignorance & his or her inclination to volunteer opinions on fictitious issues, as measured by at least one item from the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale. In addition, the data demonstrate that blacks & less well-educated Rs are more likely than their counterparts to offer opinions on fictitious issues. 1 Appendix, 9 References. AA