Response bias in college freshmen's responses to mail surveys

This study compared the attitudes and demographic characteristics of an intact group of college freshmen to those of a sample responding to a mail survey and a sample responding to a telephone follow-up. Contrary to expectation, the three samples did not differ significantly in mean attitude responses. The absence of significant mean differences indicated no significant bias in college freshmen's responses to a mail survey. However, a higher percentage of returns was received from females and higher achievers than from males and low achievers.     

The Influence of Perceived Poverty and Academic Achievement on School Counselor Conceptualization

This analog study presented 173 practicing school counselors with one of four case scenarios depicting a student new to their school. Each scenario manipulated one of two levels of the independent variables, which were perceived poverty and academic achievement. Main effects indicate that participants rated students as more attractive counseling participants when they are perceived as poor and/or strong academic performers. Implications for school counselors and further research are discussed.