Interaction and the Standardized Survey Interview by Hanneke ... - 9780521662024

Interaction and the Standardized Survey InterviewThe Living Questionnaire\nAuthor(s): Hanneke Houtkoop-Steenstra\nFormat: Hardback\nPublisher: Cambridge University Press, United Kingdom\nImprint: Cambridge University Press\nISBN-13: 9780521662024, 978-0521662024\nSynopsis\nThis study investigates in detail the interaction between interviewers and respondents in standardised social survey interviews. Applying the techniques of conversation analysis, Hanneke Houtkoop-Steenstra reveals how certain rules of normal conversation fail to apply in interviews based on a standard questionnaire, and offers original empirical evidence to show what really happens. Her book demonstrates that interview results can only be understood as products of the contingencies of the interview situation, and not, as is usually assumed, the unmediated expressions of respondents' real opinions. Her conclusions have important implications for anyone interested in effective survey compilation and interpretation. T.