Afterword by Howard Schuman and Stanley Presser

Taken as a whole, the responses to our letter asking seven researchers to comment on Questions & Answers provide a valuable set of perspectives on recent research on the question-answer process. They convey a range of views as to how much the research on questions and answers has progressed over the past quarter of a century. At one end of the range is the belief that “there is good theory that explains most past results and allows reasonably confident prediction to future ones in all the areas” covered by the table of contents shown at the beginning of this presentation. At the other end of the range is the belief that there is “no satisfactory theory that provides a relatively complete explanation and prediction of any of the question effects” identified in that table of contents. The other statements can be seen as leaning toward one or the other of these two positions.

One possible explanation for the variation may have to do with how much weight is given to the understanding achieved with regard to well-studied past response effects versus how much precise guidance can be provided at this point to those constructing a new set of survey questions. Other readers may have different explanations. Whatever their interpretation, we believe those interested in the question-answer process will benefit greatly from both the ideas stated here and the accompanying references.

To first page