Dr. Mick Couper
Survey Research Center at the Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan

7:00pm
Wednesday, January 9, 2002
411 West Hall (Ehrlicher Room) directions...

Social interface theory has had widespread influence within the field of human-computer interaction. The basic thesis is that humanizing cues in a computer interface can engender responses from users similar to those produced by interactions between humans. In contrast, the survey interviewing literature suggests that computer administration of surveys on highly sensitive topics reduces or eliminates social desirability effects, even when such humanizing features as voice are used. In attempting to reconcile these apparently contradictory findings, we varied features of the interface in two Web surveys and a telephone survey. In the first Web experiment, we presented an image of 1) a male researcher, 2) a female researcher, or 3) the study logo at several points throughout the questionnaire. This experiment also varied the extent of personal feedback provided to the respondent.

The second Web study compared three versions of the survey: 1) One that included a photograph of a female researcher and text messages from her; 2) another version that included only the text messages; and 3) a final version that included neither the picture nor the personalizing messages.

Finally, we carried out a telephone study using a method - interactive voice response (IVR) - in which the computer plays a recording of the questions over the telephone and respondents indicate their answers by pressing keys on the telephone handset. We varied the voice of the interviewer and whether the interview was personalized. Respondents were randomly assigned to either hear a male voice, a female voice, or a mix of male and female voices; and were randomly assigned to either hear personalized transitions ("Now I'm going to read you...") or standard transitions ("Next, please answer..."). All three surveys used questionnaires that included sensitive questions about sexual behavior and illicit drug use and questions on gender-related attitudes. Results of the experiments and overall conclusions from the three studies will be presented.