QUESTION FORM AND CONTEXT EFFECTS IN THE MEASUREMENT OF PARTISANSHIP - EXPERIMENTAL TESTS OF THE ARTIFACT HYPOTHESIS

Previous articles in this Review, including a Controversy in 1992, deb ated the comparability of alternative forms of the question about part isanship asked in Gallup and Michigan SRC surveys. Bishop, Tuchfarber and Smith contribute to this debate by reporting and analyzing evidenc e from 15 experimental surveys in Ohio in 1991-1993. They conclude tha t the distribution of partisan loyalties will generally be the same wh ether one uses the Gallup or Michigan Survey Research Center question and that, contrary to findings of Abramson and Ostrom, the Gallup form is no more responsive to short-term political forces than its SRC cou nterpart. In response, Abramson and Ostrom agree that during many time periods there will be little difference between aggregate levels of m acropartisanship regardless of which measure is used. But they argue t hat during periods of political volatility the Gallup approach will ac centuate differences, while the SRC version will attenuate them.