Abstract

Whether non-EU immigrants should be granted municipal suffrage in Belgium has triggered a wide public debate. Results from three different scientific surveys serve as the starting point for the current study. The three cross-sectional studies, conducted in the period 1999-2002, showed decreasing support for the measure in the Flemish population over that period of time. The current study investigates whether differences between the three reference studies in question wording and survey mode (especially whether an interviewer is present or not) can be held partly responsible for this finding. Drawing from theoretical backgrounds, it was hypothesized that differences in question wording and interviewer presence should affect response distributions. The results confirm the hypotheses. Manipulation of the question wording changes a minority of proponents of the measure into a majority. In addition, using an interviewer significantly increases the percentage of proponents, which can be the result of a social desirability response bias.

How to Cite:

Heerwegh, D., Billiet, J. & Loosveldt, G., (2005) “Opinies op bestelling?: een experimenteel onderzoek naar het effect van vraagverwoording en sociale wenselijkheid op de proportie voor- en tegenstanders van gemeentelijk migrantenstemrecht”, Tijdschrift voor Sociologie 26(3), 189–208. doi: https://doi.org/10.21825/sociologos.86634