Questions & Answers: Experts Comment on a Public Opinion Classic

In 2006 Gary Langer, the president of the New York chapter of the American Association for Public Opinion Research, invited Howard Schuman and Stanley Presser to present reflections on their book, Questions & Answers in Attitude Surveys: Experiments on Question Form, Wording, and Context. The book had been published a quarter of a century earlier in 1981, and this seemed to Schuman and Presser a good point at which to obtain an assessment of progress as seen by seven researchers who have dealt extensively with the question-answer process over the past twenty-five years. The request they sent and the replies they received are presented below. Readers should bear in mind that the replies, given here in alphabetical order, were informal email responses, and that the writers have developed their views more fully in their various publications, including some cited below.  

Text of the Letter

In the way of minor anniversaries, this is the 25th year since the publication of our book Questions & Answers in Attitude Surveys, and Stanley Presser & I are giving a talk labeled "Reflections" late this fall [2006] in New York. We would like to note changes since our now ancient work, and that leads to the following inquiry: Of the problems we considered in the 1981 book (the table of contents is attached), is there one or more on which you believe there is now a fairly complete solution—i.e., good theory that explains most past results and allows reasonably confident prediction to future ones?

We would also appreciate important recent references to your writing that are directly relevant to this inquiry, especially something that goes beyond a specific experiment to consider more broadly a type of issue, such as the ones included in the attached [table of] contents.

Responses from: