The Issue of Privacy in Public-opinion Research

Abstract

In this chapter I shall view with some alarm the short-term prospects of public-opinion research as it relates to the issue of privacy. I believe it is a real issue and that, by the very nature of public-opinion work, we must invade the privacy of our respondents in some measure. I feel this invasion can be justified, but unfortunately we have done a poor job up to now of explaining ourselves and our work to our publics.

Presidential address to AAPOR conference, reprinted from Public Opinion Quarterly, 31, 1967, pp. 1–8 with the permission of Elsevier North-Holland Inc.