Studies of >lnterviewer Effect< on a Medicohygienic Interview Survey.

The article presents a report of the occurrence of &quot;interviewer effect&quot; in connection with a medicohygienic survey. The &quot;interviewer effect&quot; may be defined as the discrepancies attributable to the person conducting the interviews. In many interview surveys, however, this source of error is not taken into account. Comparison is made between the replies obtained by 14 well-trained interviewers The questionnaire had two main sections--a general and a medical. The former comprised personal data, questions concerning profession, education, conditions at work, housing conditions, house-work, and questions on defense matters. The medical section contained 27 questions, but as some were subdivided the actual total was greater. An interviewer effect was found in half of the questions investigated. The magnitude of the interviewer effect was such that under unfavorable circumstances it would probably have hazarded the main purpose of the survey. Emphasis was placed on the necessity of considering the possibility of interviewer effect in future surveys of similar type.