The psychology of survey response Since the beginning of public opinion surveys, researchers have been aware that minor changes in question wording, format, or order can profoundly affect respondents' answers (Cantril, 1944; Payne, 1951). Nevertheless, the field has long been characterized by two largely separate streams: rigorous theories of sampling on the one hand, and an experience based ‘art of asking questions’ on the other hand. This changed since the early 1980s, thanks to a collaboration of survey methodologists and cognitive psychologists, who brought theories of language comprehension, memory, and judgment to bear on the response process(for reviews see Sudman, Bradburn,& Schwarz, 1996; Schwarz, 1999; Tourangeau, Rips, & Rasinski, 2000; and the contributions in Sirken et al ., 1999). This chapter highlights key lessons learned, with particular attention to the cognitive and communicative processes underlying answers to attitude questions. For a complementary review of the processes underlying behavioral reports, see ...