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LTHOUGH telephone surveys are an attractive alternative to household interviews, it is important to determine whether the data collected by the two methods are comparable. Initial results have been very promising-recent comparisons of the two methods do not reveal large systematic differences (Bushery et al.Abstract Two independent groups from the Los Angeles metropolitan area were sampled and interviewed-one was sampled by a form of random digit dialing and interviewed by telephone; the other was sampled on an area probability basis and interviewed face-to-face in households. Few sociodemographic differences were found between the telephone and household samples, suggesting that the two methods sampled essentially the same population. There were differences in the quantity and quality of the data obtained, however, and the telephone sample had more missing data for family income, more acquiescence, evasiveness, and extremeness response bias on attitude questions, and more responses to checklists.

The concept of psychological well-being has intrinsic interest to social psychologists and relates to a more general literature on adjustment, competence, mood indicators, and so on. Data from two surveys are presented which partially replicate Bradburn's studies in psychological well-being and which suggest that the constructs of "positive and negative affect" in Bradburn's work are an oversimplification. It is argued that there is insufficient evidence for the usefulness of the balance model of psychological well-being. Existing research on the dimensions of emotion is discussed.

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D OES THE MERE asking of questions motivate a respondent to form attitudes which were previously absent or to change the direction or intensity of extant attitudes? The answer to this question is important in many applications of the survey method, but particularly in panel surveys in which respondents are asked the same questions on two or more occasions (waves). If interview effects exist, they pose important ethical and methodological problems for survey researchers.If, under certain conditions, interviewing changes attitudes and the behavior they mediate, the survey researcher assumes the role of an agent, as well as a reporter, of social change. For example, in the course of studying racial or intergroup attitudes, the researcher may make certain issues salient or may polarize socially undesirable attitudes merely by asking race-related questions.Abstract To examine the effects of interviewing respondents were questioned about either cancer or burglary prevention in an interview, and later they received either relevant information or no information. Changes in attitudes were measured in a second interview, and the results showed that asking questions about cancer changed respondents' attitudes toward cancer, but interviewing about burglary prevention did not change attitudes toward crime. The evidence suggests that interview effects will occur when the respondent's attitudes and information are unfocused or ambiguous and the topic is important. Theoretically, this can be attributed to competence motivation and a postulated desire to maintain self-esteem in the interview situation.