Title: Statistical Profiles of Race of Interviewer Perceptibility in National Surveys

Making use of linguistic profiling and race of interviewer research, this study examines the extent to which respondents in national surveys can accurately guess their interviewer’s race when asked by the interviewer. The concept of interest in this study is perceptibility: whether or not respondents guess accurately. In the analyses, I statistically control for interviewer and respondent race, and experimentally control for effects related to the survey setting (e.g., topic and length of conversation). The results indicate that race of interviewer perceptibility significantly varies across the interviewer’s race, whereas black (and racial minority interviewers) are more likely to be guessed incorrectly. Features of the survey setting had no significant impact, and most noteworthy, perceptibility was no better at the end of the survey than at the beginning. The findings highlight the need to continue to examine racial perceptibility, as well as, incorporate methodological improvements in the study of linguistic profiling and race of interviewer effects.