The Charles Cannell Fund in Survey Methodology

2008-2009 Academic Year Competition

The Charles Cannell Fund in Survey Methodology of the Survey Research Center at the University of Michigan was established by students, colleagues and friends of Charlie to honor him as a mentor and to further research and training on the interviewer-respondent interaction and its effects on the validity and quality of survey data.

Overview

In making awards, special emphasis will be placed on efforts to develop social psychological theories, test hypotheses and techniques derived from these theories, and develop techniques for measuring and improving the interaction between the respondent and the interviewer. Preference will be given to proposals that examine respondent and interviewer behavior as opposed to inferring the behavior based on statistical analysis. Possible uses of the funds include, but are not limited to, support related to dissertation research by a graduate student, small experimental studies by graduate students or junior researchers, or visiting scholars conducting related research. Special attention will be given to activities that will produce results that are visible in the field and that will attract or sustain interest in research related to the interaction between the interviewer and the respondent. Awardees will be invited to present findings from their research to the research staff of the Survey Research Center.

Eligibility

Junior researchers, including Graduate Students, Assistant Research Scientists, Assistant Professors, Research Investigators, and Postdoctoral Fellows are eligible. Other things being equal, preference will be given to graduate students for research or training carried out at the University of Michigan.

Application Procedure

View/download 2008-09 application procedure (PDF 80K)

Cannell Fund Committee Members

• Fred Conrad, University of Michigan
• Mick Couper, University of Michigan
• Floyd Fowler, University of Massachusetts Boston
• Nancy Mathiowetz, University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee
• Nora Cate Schaeffer, University of Wisconsin - Madison

Cannell Fund Recipients and Their Projects

2008 - 2009

Matthew Jans's research "Can Speech Cues and Voice Qualities Predict Item Nonresponse and Inaccuracies in Answers to Sensitive Questions" explores the the impact of speech and voice quality (change in pitch, pauses and repairs) on the quality of responses to sensitive questions in surveys. Jans expects to receive his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan Program in Survey Methodology in 2009.

Joaquin Aguilar and Brooke Foucault's research will use a series of studies to explore rapport between the interviewer and the respondent. Their goal is to develop a more robust understanding of rapport, including a detailed understanding of which components and surface-level behaviors increase socially desirable responses. Aguilar is a Ph.D. student in Northwestern University's Technology and Behavior Program and the Joint Ph.D. Program in Computer Science and Communication Studies. Foucault is a Ph.D. student in Northwestern University's School of Communications, Program Media, Technology and Society.

2007 – 2008

Rachel Davis's research "The Influence of Black Ethnic Identity on Telephone-Administered Health Surveys" explores the impact of race and ethnic identity on health survey data, interviewer race preferences, and ratings of interviewers among African American telephone survey respondents. Davis expects to receive her Ph.D. from the University of Michigan School of Public Health, Department of Health Behavior and Health Education in Fall 2007.

Laura Lind's research, "The Use of Animated Agents in Surveys: How Does Manipulating the Level of Animation and Interactivity of a Computerized Interviewing Agent Affect Respondents Answers to Sensitive Survey Questions" is a lab-based experimental study of how respondents answers to sensitive survey questions are affected by four different modes of survey administration (A-CASI administration, low-end animated agent, high-end animated agent and traditional face-to-face interviews). Lind expects to receive her Ph.D. in Psychology (with a specialty in Psycholinguistics) from the New School for Social Research in Spring 2008.

Shauna Sweet's research, "Achieving Understanding and Accuracy in Conversational Interviews: A Reanalysis of Interviews from Conrad and Schober (2000) Using Conversational Analytic and Quantitative Methods" will explore in greater detail how respondents and interviewers collaborate, in both standardized and non-standardized contexts, to successfully generate accurate reports. Sweet is a graduate student in University of Maryland Joint Program in Survey Methodology.

2006-2007

No awards were made.

2005 - 2006

David Wilson's research, "An Experimental Approach to Estimating Race of Interviewer Effects in Telephone Interviews," is an experimental study of how the perception of interviewer's race in telephone surveys affects responses to different kinds of interview content. Wilson received his Ph.D. from Michigan State University in 2005 and is currently a faculty member at the University of Delaware.

Lindsay Benstead is studying how interviewer gender and perceived religious orientation affect survey responses across different interviewing modes (face-to-face vs. various forms of self-administration). Her research is being carried out in Algeria and Lebanon. Benstead is writing her dissertation at the University of Michigan.

Jennifer Dykema received support for digitizing tape-recordings of interviewer-respondent interactions that will allow her to continue her research on how these interactions affect the quality of survey responses. Dykema, who received her Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin in Sociology in 2004, now works for the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

2004 - 2005

Patrick Ehlen's research, "The Dynamic Role of Some Conversational Cues in the Process of Referential Alignment," focuses on conceptual alignment in answers to survey questions, or how well the concept held by the respondent matches that intended by the designer of the question. The goal is to identify speech behaviors that might indicate conceptual misalignment in order to improve the question-and-answer process.

Frauke Kreuter's research, "Interviewer Effects as a Function of Respondents, Interviewer and Question Type," will develop a theoretical model to help identify, measure, and reduce interviewer effects in surveys by taking into account the interaction of the respondent, the interviewer, and the properties of the survey question.