ATTITUDESthis issue in detail and suggest ways to reduce the
extent to which nonattitudes are given by respondents.
The second issue involves the interpretation
of responses to items. In the example above, the
analyst assumes that white respondents who reply
‘‘Too fast’’ feel threatened by the movement. How-
ever, there is evidence that small changes in the
wording of survey items can produce substantial
changes in aggregate response patterns. This evi-
dence and guidelines for writing survey items are
discussed in Schuman and Presser (1996).
Finally, there is the problem of equivalence in
meaning over time. In order to make meaningful
comparisons across time, the items need to be the
same or equivalent. Yet over time the meaning of
an item may change. Consider the item ‘‘Are you
in favor of desegregation, strict segregation, or some-
thing in between?’’ This question was asked of
national samples in 1964 and every two years from
1968 to 1978. From 1964 to 1970, the percentage
of white, college-educated adults endorsing deseg-
regation increased; from 1970 to 1978, the per-
centage decreased steadily. Until 1970, desegrega-
tion efforts were focused on the South; after 1970,
desegregation efforts focused on school integra-
tion in northern cities. Evidence suggests that
endorsement of desegregation changed because
the meaning of the question for white adults
changed (Schuman, Steeh, and Bobo 1985).
REFERENCES
Allport, Gordon W. 1985 ‘‘The Historical Background
of Social Psychology.’’ In G. Lindzey and E. Aronson,
eds., Handbook of Social Psychology, 3rd ed. New York:
Random House.
Bargh, John A. 1996 ‘‘Automaticity in Social Psycholo-
gy.’’ In E.T. Higgins and A. Kruglanski, eds., Social
Psychology: Handbook of Basic Principles. New York:
The Guilford Press.
Bobo, Lawrence 1988 ‘‘Attitudes toward the Black Po-
litical Movement: Trends, Meaning, and Effects on
Racial Policy Preference.’’ Social Psychology Quarterly
51:287–302.
Dawes, Robyn M., and Tom L. Smith 1985 ‘‘Attitude
and Opinion Measurement.’’ In G.Lindzey and E.
Aronson, eds., Handbook of Social Psychology, 3rd ed.
New York: Random House.
Eagly, Alice, and Shelly Chaiken 1998 ‘‘Attitude Struc-
ture and Function.’’ In D. T. Gilbert, S. T. Fiske, and
G. Lindzey, eds., Handbook of Social Psychology, 4th ed.
New York: McGraw-Hill.
Felson, Richard B. 1996 ‘‘Mass Media Effects on Violent
Behavior.’’ In J. Hagen and K. Cook, eds., Annual
Review of Sociology, vol. 22. Palo Alto, Calif.: Annual
Reviews.
Festinger, Leon 1957 A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance.
Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press.
Fishbein, Martin, and Icek Ajzen 1975 Belief, Attitude,
Intention, and Behavior. Reading, Mass.: Addision-Wesley.
Geen, Russel 1998 ‘‘Aggression and Antisocial Behav-
ior.’’ In D. T. Gilbert, S. T. Fiske, and G. Lindzey,
eds., Handboook of Social Psychology, 4th ed. New York:
McGraw-Hill.
Kiecolt, K. Jill 1988 ‘‘Recent Developments in Attitudes
and Social Structure.’’ In W. R. Scott and J. Blake.
eds., Annual Review of Sociology, vol. 14. Palo Alto,
Calif.: Annual Reviews.
Kinder, Donald R., and David O. Sears 1985 ‘‘Public
Opinion and Political Action.’’ In G. Lindzey and E.
Aronson, eds., Handbook of Social Psychology, 3rd ed.
New York: Random House.
Kraus, S.J. 1995 ‘‘Attitudes and the Prediction of Behav-
ior: A Meta-Analysis of the Emperical Literature.’’
Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 18:152–162.
McGuire, William J. 1985 ‘‘Attitudes and Attitude
Change.’’ In G. Lindzey and E. Aronson, eds., Hand-
book of Social Psychology, 3rd ed. New York: Ran-
dom House.
Niemi, Richard G., John Mueller, and Tom W. Smith
1989 Trends in Public Opinion: A Compendium of Sur-
vey Data. New York: Greenwood Press.
Perloff, R. M. 1993 The Dynamics of Persuasion. Hillsdale,
N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Petty, Richard, and John Cacioppo 1986 ‘‘The Elabora-
tion–Likelihood Model of Persuasion.’’Advances in
Experimental Social Psychology 19:123–205.
Petty, Richard, Duane Wegener, and Leandre Fabrigan
1997 ‘‘Attitudes and Attitude Change.’’Annual Re-
view of Psychology 48:609–647.
Roberts, Donald F., and Nathan Maccoby 1985 ‘‘Effects
of Mass Communication.’’ In G. Lindzey and E.
Aronson, eds., Handbook of Social Psychology, 3rd ed.
New York: Random House.
Schuman, Howard 1995 ‘‘Attitudes, Beliefs, and Behav-
ior.’’ In K. S. Cook, G. A. Finc, and J. S. House, eds.,
Sociological Perspectives on Social Psychology. Boston:
Allyn and Bacon.
———, and Stanley Presser 1996 Questions and Answers
in Attitude Surveys. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage
Publications.