Behavior Coding

Behavior coding concerns the systematic assignment of codes to the overt behavior of interviewer and [Page 54]respondent in survey interviews. The method was developed by Charles Cannell and his colleagues at the University of Michigan in the 1970s. Behavior coding is a major tool used to evaluate interviewer performance and questionnaire design. Behavior coding is sometimes referred to as “interaction analysis,” although interaction analysis is usually more specifically used in the sense of applying behavior coding to study the course of the interaction between interviewer and respondent.

The three main uses of behavior coding are (1) evaluating interviewer performance, (2) pretesting questionnaires, and (3) studying the course of the interaction between interviewer and respondent.