Extreme Response Style among U.S. Hispanics vs. Non-Hispanics
Martin Cerda, Ilgin Basar · Survey Practice · 2010
Extreme Response Style among U.S. Hispanics vs. Non-Hispanics It is well documented that U.S. Hispanics tend to give extreme rating scale responses more so than white non-Hispanics (Marin, Gamba, and Marin 199 2).However, there is no agreement on how to best measure extreme response style (ERS) among Latinos and control for its effects in the data analysis and interpretation.Furthermore, there are a small number of documented cases and academic papers written on the subject, and the few related to U.S. Hispanics are very limited or flawed from a study design perspective.To shed new light, Encuesta, Inc. carried out a small scale experiment within a nationally representative study conducted for its pro bono non-partisan Americanos Poll series.The study was conducted in such a manner as to obtain proper representation of all U.S. Hispanics by language usage and acculturation level.The findings will provide evidence of extreme response style and highlight differences and possible solutions when conducting research among Hispanics. objectivesGiven these common survey research challenges and a review of findings from numerous sources, a study was designed that explored topics related to:• measuring ERS using various methods,• determining how Hispanic and non-Hispanic subjects respond to a rating scale, specifically how they map their somewhat "elastic" individually held subjective categories onto the response categories provided, and• stimulating thought on how to lessen ERS, acquiescence response style (ARS) and other "response set effects" by using proper question and rating scale design and the effective presentation and rotation of rating scales to reduce unwanted effects.