Standardization and Tacit Knowledge

An interdisciplinary look at interaction in the standardized surveyinterview

This volume presents a theoretical and empirical inquiry into theinteraction between interviewers and respondents in standardizedresearch interviews. The editors include a range of articles thatshowcase the perspectives of conversation analysts,ethnomethodologists, and survey methodologists, to gain a morecomplete picture of interaction in the standardized surveyinterview than was previously available. This book is the first to focus solely on the interactionalsubstrate or conversational architecture of interviewing. It offersa range of insights into standardized interviewing as interactionand forms a bridge between survey methodology and the study ofinteraction and tacit practices. The articles are arranged intofour subject groups: theoretical orientations, survey recruitment,interaction during the substantive interview, and interaction andsurvey data quality. Articles include:

• Interactions in telephone surveys
• Recruitment of respondents
• Respondent laughter
• Interaction coding
• Impact of technology on interaction
• Occasions for interviewer intervention

Standardization and Tacit Knowledge serves as a one-of-a-kindreference for survey methodologists, linguists, and researchers andalso as a postgraduate coursebook in survey interviewing.

Author Biography

DOUGLAS W. MAYNARD is Professor of Sociology at the University ofWisconsin, Madison.

HANNEKE HOUTKOOP-STEENSTRA is Assistant Professor ofLinguistics/Dutch at Utrecht University, The Netherlands. NORA CATE SCHAEFFER is Professor of Sociology at the University ofWisconsin, Madison. JOHANNES VAN DER ZOUWEN is Professor of Social Research Methods atVrije University in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.