This article reports a study of the effects on the accuracy of survey data of tape recording an interview. Empirically matched samples were used each with a standard questionnaire, but for one of them a tape recorder was also used. The questions asked concerned newspaper readership, and data were available from another source for validating the replies. For the sample as a whole, there was no loss in accuracy because of tape recording. However, this masks reduced accuracy for the upper social groupings and increased accuracy for the lower.
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