Information Transmission in the Survey Interview: Number of Response Categories and the Reliability of Attitude Measurement

This paper examines the relation between the number of response categories used to measure attitudes in survey interviews and the reliability of such attitude measurements. I review and criticize the hypothesis that reliability increases with the information carrying capacity of a response scale. I also review the literature on the relationship between the number of scale points and measurement reliability. This leads to a set of predictions regarding the relationship between the number of scale points and reliability of measurement, which I then examine using results obtained from three-wave panel studies conducted by the General Social Survey and the National Election Study. Reliability estimates were obtained via several procedures (LISREL, EQS, and LISCOMP) employing a vari-