This is the first study of its kind to investigate in detail the interaction between interviewers and respondents in standardized social survey interviews. Applying the techniques of conversation analysis, Hanneke Houtkoop-Steenstra reveals how certain rules of normal conversation fail to apply in form-based interviews, and offers original empirical evidence to show what really happens. Highly accessible, her book sets out the tools of conversation analysis, and points to ways of improving survey compilation and the validity of data. It offers great insight to anyone studying survey methodology.