lost letter procedure

an indirect attitude measure used at an aggregate group level. Two sets of stamped envelopes are created, one addressed to a group likely to adopt a particular attitudinal position on the target issue and the other addressed to a group likely to adopt the opposite position. Equal numbers of each version of the envelope are randomly distributed in a particular community. The procedure is based on the logic that a person finding a letter that has apparently been inadvertently dropped is more likely to place the letter in a mailbox if it is addressed to a group that shares his or her position. The percentage of people in that community supporting the two positions is then inferred from the number of envelopes that are ultimately mailed to each address. Also called lost letter technique. [originally developed by Stanley Milgram]

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Psychology term of the day

May 8th 2024

morula

n. an early stage of embryological development, extending from the first cleavage of the zygote until the blastula is formed by further divisions of daughter cells.