"Data used in nationwide face-to-face surveys are almost always collected in multistage clustersamples. The relative homogeneity of the clusters selected in this way can lead to designeffects at the sampling stage. Interviewers can further homogenize answers within the smallgeographic clusters that form the sampling points. The study presented here was designed todistinguish between interviewer effects and sampling-point effects using interpenetratedsamples for conducting a nationwide survey on fear of crime. Even though one might, giventhe homogeneity of neighborhoods, assume that sampling-point effects would be especiallystrong for questions related to fear of crime in one's neighborhood, we found that, for mostitems, the interviewer was responsible for a greater share of the homogenizing effect than wasthe spatial clustering. This result can be understood if we recognize that these questions arepart of a larger class of survey questions whose subject matter is either unfamiliar to therespondent or otherwise not well anchored in the mind of the respondent. These questionspermit differing interpretations to be elicited by the interviewer." (author's abstract)
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