Asking Questions - The Definitive Guide To Questionnaire Design ...

88 ASKING QUESTIONS
relationship between household informants and reporting accuracy
is an important one that will be discussed later on in this book.
Reporting accuracy is also a function of the actual percentage of
people voting. Presidential election questions are probably answered
most accurately, since more registered voters actually vote
in presidential elections. In May 1949, 13 percent of the population
claimed to have voted in the 1948 presidential election and did
not, according to the voting records. People were also asked if they
had voted in the presidential election four years earlier in 1944. Of
those claiming to have voted, 23 percent could not be matched
with reported voting records.
Of respondents in the NORC survey, 65 percent reported that
they had voted in 1976 (General Social Survey, 1977–78). The
Current Population Survey based on data from a household informant
indicated that 59 percent of the population had voted (U.S.
Bureau of the Census, 1976). The actual percentage voting was
57.5 percent. Although some of the differences between NORC
and the Current Population Survey may be the result of other
factors, these results suggest that for voting and other socially desirable
behaviors, more reliable information is obtained from an informant
rather than from the individual directly, because informants
find questions about others less threatening than questions about
themselves.
Substantially higher overreporting of voting is possible in elections
where fewer people vote. Primary and most local elections are
less salient to respondents and easier to confuse with other elections.
It is also difficult for the researcher to provide memory cues,
because the list of candidates is long. For these elections, it would
be especially desirable to use an informant if possible. Nevertheless,
substantial overstatements should still be expected.
Ideas about what technique best alleviates errors in reporting on
voting have changed in recent years. In a recent survey regarding
November 2000 voting and registration, the U.S. Census Bureau
focused on increasing the number of people who truthfully completed
the questionnaire. (See Figure 3.5.) The questions therefore