The Problem of Interpreting Attitude Survey Data.

The article presents a case study of the attitude of Russian workers in Germany during World War II, towards the problem of interpreting attitude survey data. As mentioned in the article, the U.S. Strategic Bombing Survey found that the Russian workers were most anti-Germans during the war, based on responses given by French, Italian and Russian workers in Germany. However, as maintained by the authors, the same data may be interpreted, to mean that the Russian workers were actually more favorable to the Germans than were the other groups. This reinterpretation also appears to fit certain facts now available regarding foreign workers in Germany, better than does the interpretation put forward by the Bombing Survey. A possible explanation for the original interpretation is afforded by the theory that new data, including survey data, tend to be incorporated in an existing cognitive structure. Moreover, the complexity of international attitudes also contributes to the difficulty of interpreting statements of individuals as to what they think about other national groups.