Communication failures between interviewers and respondents in mass telephone surveys on the topic of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict
Research Article
How to Cite
Zvonovskiy V.B., Khodykin A.V., Ippolitova D.O. (2025) Communication failures between interviewers and respondents in mass telephone surveys on the topic of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. Zhurnal sotsiologii i sotsialnoy antropologii (The Journal of Sociology and Social Anthropology), 28(2): 154-181 (in Russian). DOI: https://doi.org/10.31119/jssa.2025.28.2.6 EDN: ETXPWL
Abstract
A sociological interview is a dialogue between the interviewer and the respondent, during which information is exchanged. If a part of it is lost during this exchange, then the survey results turn out to be distorted. Since respondents do not always understand the questionnaire questions correctly and sometimes their answers do not fall into the proposed scale of options, and interviewers may make mistakes when reading out the question and building communication, it seems important to investigate the problem of communication disruption between the interviewer and the respondent in mass telephone surveys. The sensitivity of the survey topic may contribute to an increase in the number of communication disorders. Our previous research shows that the topic of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict is sensitive. During the fighting, a number of mass surveys (mainly telephone) were conducted on the attitude of Russians towards them, however, the final data distributions are subjected to detailed analysis, while communication violations that occurred during the interviews themselves remain outside the research. This paper attempts such a study. We analyzed audio recordings of a massive All-Russian telephone survey (N=1619). A total of 200 randomly selected audio recordings of successful interviews were listened to. The methods of content analysis and traditional qualitative analysis of documents revealed and described communication violations between interviewers and respondents. The following results were obtained. Communication violations are divided into those that occurred 1) due to the respondent's reaction and 2) due to the mistakes of the interviewers. In 137 cases, violations occurred for the first reason, and in 89 — for the second, i.e. problems on the part of respondents are more often the causes of communication violations than the mistakes of the interviewers. Most often, violations of the dialogue due to respondents' reactions are caused by the respondents' incorrect understanding of the questionnaire questions. The most common mistake of interviewers is to formally follow the instructions without taking into account the communication situation. In case of communication violations, the parameters measured by the questionnaire are sometimes significantly distorted. On the one hand, the reason for this is the respondents' understanding of the meaning of the question not in the way that was laid down by the compilers of the questionnaire. On the other hand, interviewers who make communication errors when voicing the text of a question also contribute to such distortions, although much less often. As a result, the information circulating between the sociologist, the interviewer and the respondent may be distorted by following this chain. Although fundamental distortions that destroy communication are relatively infrequent, the prevalence of communication disorders affects the quality of the data obtained in the dialogue between the interviewer and the respondent.
Keywords:
procedure, telephone surveys, survey communication, Russian-Ukranian conflict, violations, interviewers, respondents
References
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Sadman S., Bradburn N. (2002) How to ask questions correctly: an introduction to the design of a survey tool. Transl. from English by A.A. Vinitskaya; ed. by D.M. Rogozin. Moscow: Institute of the Public Opinion Foundation (in Russian).
Dillman D.A., Smyth J.D., Christian L.M. (2014) Internet, phone, mail, and mixed-mode surveys: The tailored design method. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
Groves R.M., Fowler F.J., Couper M.P., Lepkowski J.M., Singer E., Tourangeau R. (2009) Survey methodology. John Wiley & Sons.
Groves R.M., McGonagle K.A. (2001) A theory-guided interviewer training protocol regarding survey participation. Journal of Official Statistics, 17(2): 249–265.
Maletzke G. (1963) Psychology of mass communication: theory and systematics. Berlin: Hans Bredow University.
Maynard D.W., Schaeffer N.C. (2002) Standardization and its discontents. In: Maynard D.W., Houtkoop-Steenstra H., Schaeffer N.C., Zouwen J. van der (eds.) Standardization and tacit knowledge: interaction and practice in the survey interview. New York: John Wiley & Sons: 3–45.
Morris J. (2023) Public opinion still does not exist. Russian Analytical Digest, 292: 7–9.
Pechenkina A.O., Bausch A.W., Skinner K.K. (2018) The Pitfalls of List Experiments in Conflict Zones. Civil Wars, 20(3): 408–435.
Schuman H., Presser S. (1996) Questions and answers in attitude surveys: Experiments on question form, wording, and context. London: Sage.
Willis G.B. (2005) Cognitive interviewing: A tool for improving questionnaire design. London: Sage.
Andreenkov V.G., Sotnikova G.N. (1985) Telephone surveys of the population (Methodological recommendations for organizing and conducting sample mass surveys). Moscow: ISI AN SSSR (in Russ.).
Zvonovsky V.B., Khodykin A.V. (2022) Reflection of the Cultural Power of the Geopolitical Narrative in The Collective Perceptions of Russians About a Special Military Operation. Sociological Studies, 11: 38–53. https://doi.org/10.31857/S013216250021524-9 (in Russian).
Zvonovsky V.B., Khodykin A.V. (2023a) Russians' perception of the conflict with Ukraine: testing the hypothesis of the “spiral of silence”. Sociological Researches, 11: 38–50. https//doi.org/10.31857/S013216250028531-7 (in Russian).
Zvonovsky V.B., Khodykin A.V. (2023b) Strategies of adaptation of supporters and opponents of the special operation to life in its conditions (on the example of residents of the Samara region). Sociological Journal, 29(1): 8–35. https//doi.org/10.19181/socjour.2023.29.1.1 (in Russian).
Zvonovsky V.B., Khodykin A.V. (2024) Russian public opinion in the context of the military conflict 2022–2023. Chişinău: Historical Expertise (in Russian).
Ipatova A.A., Rogozin D.M. (2014) Conditions of communicative success in a standardized telephone interview. Sociological Journal, 1: 21–54 (in Russian).
Kahneman D. (2017) Think slowly... decide quickly. St. Petersburg: AST (in Russian).
Litvinovich V.M. (2016) Telephone interview on CATI technology: advantages and limitations. The sociological almanac, 7: 58–67 (in Russian).
Rogozin D.M. (2002) Cognitive analysis of a survey tool. Moscow: Institute of the Public Opinion Foundation (in Russian).
Rogozin D.M. (2017) In the shadow of polls, or the Everyday life of a field interviewer: a study. Moscow: Strana Oz (in Russian).
Rogozin D.M., Ipatova A.A., Galieva N.I. (2018) Standardized (telephone) interview. Moscow: Punkt (in Russian).
Sadman S., Bradburn N. (2002) How to ask questions correctly: an introduction to the design of a survey tool. Transl. from English by A.A. Vinitskaya; ed. by D.M. Rogozin. Moscow: Institute of the Public Opinion Foundation (in Russian).
Dillman D.A., Smyth J.D., Christian L.M. (2014) Internet, phone, mail, and mixed-mode surveys: The tailored design method. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
Groves R.M., Fowler F.J., Couper M.P., Lepkowski J.M., Singer E., Tourangeau R. (2009) Survey methodology. John Wiley & Sons.
Groves R.M., McGonagle K.A. (2001) A theory-guided interviewer training protocol regarding survey participation. Journal of Official Statistics, 17(2): 249–265.
Maletzke G. (1963) Psychology of mass communication: theory and systematics. Berlin: Hans Bredow University.
Maynard D.W., Schaeffer N.C. (2002) Standardization and its discontents. In: Maynard D.W., Houtkoop-Steenstra H., Schaeffer N.C., Zouwen J. van der (eds.) Standardization and tacit knowledge: interaction and practice in the survey interview. New York: John Wiley & Sons: 3–45.
Morris J. (2023) Public opinion still does not exist. Russian Analytical Digest, 292: 7–9.
Pechenkina A.O., Bausch A.W., Skinner K.K. (2018) The Pitfalls of List Experiments in Conflict Zones. Civil Wars, 20(3): 408–435.
Schuman H., Presser S. (1996) Questions and answers in attitude surveys: Experiments on question form, wording, and context. London: Sage.
Willis G.B. (2005) Cognitive interviewing: A tool for improving questionnaire design. London: Sage.
Article
Received: 28.01.2025
Accepted: 27.06.2025
Citation Formats
Other cite formats:
ACM
[1]
Zvonovskiy, V.B., Khodykin, A.V. and Ippolitova, D.O. 2025. Communication failures between interviewers and respondents in mass telephone surveys on the topic of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. Zhurnal sotsiologii i sotsialnoy antropologii (The Journal of Sociology and Social Anthropology). 28, 2 (Jun. 2025), 154-181. DOI:https://doi.org/10.31119/jssa.2025.28.2.6.
Section
Methods of sociological research
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