In Chapter 6, the derivation of the sample for the Lower East Side survey was discussed, and the characteristics of the ALS target sample given. The regular ALS linguistic interview was completed for 63 percent of that sample. The non-respondents will be analyzed in this appendix – first for their social characteristics, and then, by means of the television interview, for their linguistic behavior. The television interview was described generally in Chapter 6: the questionnaire itself is given at the end of this appendix.

Characteristics of the non-respondents

Table 6.4 showed an ALS target population of 195 individuals. A total of 122 were interviewed through the regular ALS survey procedure, and 33 of the remaining 73 by the television interview. Six of the 195 individuals in the target sample are eliminated when one-third of the AA working class group is set aside to match the other working class groups. The total ALS response for this comparable sample is then 119 out of 189, or 63 percent. Of the 70 non-respondents, 33 were studied through the television interview, and 37 were not sampled. The non-respondents were basically of two types: refusals, and those who could not be reached.