Reporting Error and Single-Family Home Ownership Norms and Preferences

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to test hypotheses about the differences among income classes in home-ownership preferences and reported norms. The first hypothesis is that households with differing levels of income have differing standards and aspirations for home ownership and the single-family dwelling. The alternative hypothesis is that the apparent differences among income classes in housing preferences and norms are due to a correctable systematic reporting error. The data are from interviews with about 1300 households in a six-county area in northwest Iowa during 1975–76. The data were analyzed using a four-step regression procedure. The results indicate that housing needs and preferences for tenure and structure type do not differ by income when “corrected.” Actual housing and the constraints differ by income and it is their effects on the reporting of norms and preferences that produce systematic measurement error.

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Notes on contributors

Earl W. Morris

Earl W. Morris is Professor, Mary Winter is Professor, and Mary Ann Sward is Research Assistant in the Department of Family Environment, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa. The research reported here was funded by the Fort Dodge City Planning Department, YOUR Inc., and the Agriculture and Home Economics Experiment Station, Iowa State University. The Experiment Station funding was provided in part through Title V of the Rural Development Act of 1972. This is Journal Paper No. J-8445 of the Iowa Agriculture and Home Economics Experiment Station, Ames, Iowa, Project 2530, a revised version of a paper presented at the 1983 Annual Conference of the American Association of Housing Educators, Lincoln, Nebraska.

Mary Winter

Earl W. Morris is Professor, Mary Winter is Professor, and Mary Ann Sward is Research Assistant in the Department of Family Environment, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa. The research reported here was funded by the Fort Dodge City Planning Department, YOUR Inc., and the Agriculture and Home Economics Experiment Station, Iowa State University. The Experiment Station funding was provided in part through Title V of the Rural Development Act of 1972. This is Journal Paper No. J-8445 of the Iowa Agriculture and Home Economics Experiment Station, Ames, Iowa, Project 2530, a revised version of a paper presented at the 1983 Annual Conference of the American Association of Housing Educators, Lincoln, Nebraska.

Mary Ann Sward

Earl W. Morris is Professor, Mary Winter is Professor, and Mary Ann Sward is Research Assistant in the Department of Family Environment, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa. The research reported here was funded by the Fort Dodge City Planning Department, YOUR Inc., and the Agriculture and Home Economics Experiment Station, Iowa State University. The Experiment Station funding was provided in part through Title V of the Rural Development Act of 1972. This is Journal Paper No. J-8445 of the Iowa Agriculture and Home Economics Experiment Station, Ames, Iowa, Project 2530, a revised version of a paper presented at the 1983 Annual Conference of the American Association of Housing Educators, Lincoln, Nebraska.