This valuable book examines the complex psychological processes involved in answering different types of survey questions. Drawing on both classic and modern research from cognitive psychology, social psychology, and survey methodology, the authors examine how survey responses are formulated and they demonstrate how seemingly unimportant features of the survey can affect the answers obtained. The book provides a comprehensive review of the sources of response errors in surveys, and it offers a coherent theory of the relation between the underlying views of the public and the results of public opinion polls. Topics include the comprehension of survey questions, the recall of relevant facts and beliefs, estimation and inferential processes people use to answer survey questions, the sources of the apparent instability of public opinion, the difficulties in getting responses into the required format, and the distortions introduced into surveys by deliberate misreporting.

"A superb job...Offers an excellent and unique account of cognitive and communicative influences in survey situations. The insights it provides make it an indispensable source for both researchers and practitioners." Contemporary Psychology

"For survey researchers, it provides a very scholarly and readable review of psychological theorizing and its implication for survey responding; for psychologists it offers a range of important phenomena that broaden the scope of psychological inquiry. . . . Readers are guaranteed to gain highly useful new insights from the author's masterful integration of research." International Journal of Public Opinion Research

"The Psychology of Survey Response provides a masterful review and integration of what we know about survey responding. Written by some of the leading researchers at the interface of psychology and survey methods, this book will be of great interest to survey researchers and psychologists alike." Norbert Schwarz, University of Michigan

"This is the best and most comprehensive book in the growing literature on the psychology of survey responding. It includes useful summaries of the behavioral science, often providing better exposition than the primary sources, and it draws clear, useful implications for practice. It is a landmark example of the application of scientific theory and laboratory findings to real life problems." Reid Hastie, University of Colorado at Boulder

"The Psychology of Survey Response provides a masterful review and integration of what we know about survey responding. Written by some of the leading researchers at the interface of psychology and survey methods, this book will be of great interest to survey researchers and psychologists alike." Norbert Schwarz, University of Michigan

"This is the best and most comprehensive book in the growing literature on the psychology of survey responding. It includes useful summaries of the behavioral science, often providing better exposition than the primary sources, and it draws clear, useful implications for practice. It is a landmark example of the application of scientific theory and laboratory findings to real life problems." Reid Hastie, University of Colorado at Boulder