Survey Research in the United States: Roots and Emergence 1890-1960

587 Pages·2009·9.853 MB·English

by  Jean M. Converse

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Introduction to the Transaction Edition iii
First E-Book Publication 2010
New material this edition copyright © 2009 by Transaction Publishers, New
Brunswick, NJ. Originally printed in 1987 by The University of California
Press.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conven-
tions. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by
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from the publisher. All inquiries should be addressed to Transaction Publishers,
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This book is printed on acid-free paper that meets the American National Stan-
dard for Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials.
Library of Congress Catalog Number: 2008054963
E-ISBN: 978-1-4128-1579-6
ISBN: 978-1-4128-0880-4 (paper)
Printed in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Converse, Jean M., 1927-
Survey research in the United States : roots and emergence 1890-1960 / Jean
M. Converse.
p. cm.
Originally published: Berkeley : University of California Press, c1987.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4128-0880-4 (alk. paper)
1. Sampling (Statistics)--History. 2. Social surveys--United States--His-
tory. I. Title.
HA31.2.C66 2009
300.72’3--dc22
2008054963
To Once and Future:
Marian and Edward, Peter and Tim
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Contents
Acknowledgments ix
...
Abbreviations XU
Introduction to the Transaction Edition xvii
Introduction 1
Part One: The Ancestors: 1890-1 940
1. The Reformist Ancestor of Policy:
The Social Survey 11
2. The More Elegant Ancestor of Science:
Attitude Measurement in Psychology and
Sociology 54
3. The Most Direct Line, Business:
Market Research and Opinion Polling 8 7
Part Two: The Prewar and Wartime Generation: 1935-1 945
4. The Prewar Years:
Academic Entrepreneurs and SurveyIPoll Data 131
5. The Wartime Experience in Policy Research 162
6. The Wartime Experience in Science (I) 186
7. The Wartime Experience in Science (11) 214
Part Three: Migrations to the Universities: 1940-1 960
8. General Perspectives and Anticipations 239
.. .
v~ll Contents
9. The Bureau of Applied Social Research:
The First Wave 267
10. The National Opinion Research Center:
From the Margins of Commercial Polling 305
11. The Survey Research Center at Michigan:
From the Margins of Government 340
12. The Academic Establishment of Survey Research:
A Summary and Evaluation 379
Notes 417
Index 547
Acknowledgments
The collective generosity of many people made this study possible. I am
especially indebted to the individuals whom I interviewed for their con-
sidered reflections on survey research and social science and for their
many helpful suggestions. I am also grateful to many others who an-
swered queries and suggested ideas, informants, and source materials.
The list of these gracious individuals is long:
Rebecca Adams, Tony Asmann, Gladys Baker, Allen H. Barton, Rich-
ard H. Baxter, Wolfgang Beck, Joe Belden, Tracy R. Berckmans, Yvonne
Blotner, Norman Bradburn, Jerome S. Bruner, Martin Bulmer, Don and
Ellen Cahalan, Angus Campbell, Charles F. Cannell, David Caplovitz,
Mary Elizabeth Carroll, Dorwin P. Cartwright, Richard Centers, Donna
Charron, John A. Clausen, John Colombotos, Leonard S. Cottrell, Jr.,
Leo Crespi, Helen Crossley, James A. Davis, W. Phillips Davison, Thelma
A. Dreis, Otis Dudley Duncan, David Easton, Jack Elinson, Raymond
Fink, Marjorie Fiske, Lloyd A. Free, George H. Gallup, Charles Y. Glock,
Martin Gold, Edith Gomberg, Roe Goodman, Morris H. Hansen, John
S. Harding, Albert H. Hastorf, Philip M. Hauser, Ernest R. Hilgard,
Esther and Joseph Hochstim, Helen and Herbert H. Hyman, Richard
Jensen, William G. Jones, Mara Julius, George Katona, Daniel Katz,
Elihu Katz, Patricia L. Kendall, Leslie Kish, Evelyn Kitagawa, Andie L.
Knutson, Sheldon J. Korchin, Edward 0. Laumann, Jane and Rensis
Likert, Elizabeth Martin, Marlene Mayo, Robert McCargar, Sandy
McKay, Robert K. Merton, Warren E. Miller, Michael Minor, Louis Moss,
Hans Mueller, Judith P. Murphy, D. Morgan Neu, Ann Pasanella, Her-
bert Passin, James H. Ricks, David Riesman, Theresa F. Rogers, Burns
Roper, Sydney Roslow, Peter H. Rossi, Naomi Rothwell, Merrill Shanks,
Clara Shapiro, Paul B. Sheatsley, Phyllis Sheridan, David L. Sills, Eleanor
Singer, M. Brewster Smith, Mary Spaeth, Garth Taylor, Charles F.
Turner, Ralph W. Tyler, H. Ashley Weeks, Robert P. Weeks, Robin M.
Williams, Jr., Ann Schuetz Zanes, and Pearl Zinner.