Hispanic and Anglo interviewer and respondent ethnicity and gender: the impact on survey response quality

The author applies a hierarchical regression model to analyze the simultaneous effects of Hispanic and Anglo interviewer and respondent ethnicity and gender on response quality in survey research. Although few significant main effects were found, response quality was affected significantly by interaction effects of respondent and interviewer ethnicity and gender. For the most part, ethnically homophilous and gender-heterophilous interviews generate the highest response quality. Both Hispanic and Anglo respondents deferred to an interviewer of a different ethnic background when queried about the interviewer's culture, but not when asked noncultural, albeit sensitive, questions.