NEW BOOKS IN REVIEW
of the issues and how those views affect error interpretations or concerns. He suggests that psychometrics and
econometrics are fields populated with modelers who are
concemed with errors of observation, whereas survey
statisticians are interested in descriptions and univariate
statistics and are therefore most concemed with observation errors, especially sampling error.
Throughout the text. Groves deplores the lack of theory-driven research to address these critical issues. He
attempts to address this flaw by reviewing relevant theories and tying them to the areas of interest in his text.
For example, in Chapter Five, he reviews the literature
on altruism, compliance, and persuasion in discussing
why nonresponse occurs or how it might be addressed,
and in Chapter Nine he presents the literature on the encoding process to elaborate more fully on the response
formation process in survey research. This task is admirable, but difficult to accomplish.
Throughout the book, the author laments the fact that
researchers tend to confine themselves to minimizing one
type of error without regard to total error, which he assures us is always really the critical issue. He says "little
research exists, however, on combined estimates of sampling and nonsampling error in survey estimates" (p. 4).
As an example of this issue, in Chapter Five Groves
discusses the difficulties involved with efforts aimed at
reducing nonresponse rates. He suggests that sometimes
reducing nonresponse rates may in fact increase overall
error. He summarizes our state of knowledge about nonresponse reduction on page 218, suggesting that it would
be wise to consider the differences between nonrespondents and respondents before deciding on the ways to
decrease the nonresponse rates. He suggests it is often
critical to consider particular subgroups of the population in addressing nonresponse error, and yet that issue
has received minimal attention.
The fourth important perspective here is the author's
concem with the costs involved in minimizing errors,
particularly in a total error context. For example, he provides a detailed example of this issue in Chapter Eleven,
where telephone and personal interviewing costs are
compared and discussed.
Chapter One addresses differences in language among
the fields' members, important terms in each area, and
the different types of error and validity based on the perspectives in the different fields. In Chapter Two, Groves
discusses cost models and how they relate to errors. In
Chapters Three through Six, nonobservation errors, including coverage errors and costs, nonresponse errors,
causes and ways to reduce nonresponse errors, and sampling errors and costs, are discussed. Chapters Seven
through Eleven cover errors of observation. Chapter Seven
provides an overview of survey measurement error;
Chapters Eight through Eleven cover interviewer, respondent, questionnaire, and mode of data collection errors, respectively.
I think the text is very helpful in the above-mentioned
areas. The chapter sunimaries pull together important
253
points from the respective chapters. However, the reader
is often left feeling that there are more questions than
answers. Though the problem is probably due to the nature of the material rather than the author's style, it is
frustrating to read a five-page section on a topic in which
the last'Sentence states that results in the area are thus
far inconclusive.
This book may be more stimulating for students or
researchers of survey research than for doers, who are
looking for answers to the questions (they may not find
many!). It makes an excellent reference book on the issues (and many unsolved questions) of survey errors and
costs.
SHARON E . BEATTY
University of Alabama
AN EVALUATION OF GRAPHICS SOFTWARE:
CHARISMA (V. 2.01), DRAWPERFECT (V. 1.1),
HARVARD GRAPHICS (V. 2.3), AND POWERPOINT (V. 1.0)
Graphics packages perform a wide variety of tasks.
This review covers applications most relevant for the
production of joumal manuscripts and class materials.
Five areas (ease of use, technical support, text charts,
data charts, and drawing figures) were used to evaluate
the programs. Slide show and import/export options were
not evaluated (all of the packages have some acceptable
form of both, though there are major differences).
The same reviewing method was applied to all packages in alphabetical order. I started by trying to use the
program without the help of the manual. If I got lost, I
moved to the tutorial lesson. After finishing the tutorial,
I paged through the manual for additional features that
affected the construction of data charts, word charts, and
drawings. After perusing all of the material, I made a
data chart, word chart, and drawing. Technical support
was evaluated by making at least one phone call. All
programs were run on a Toshiba 1600 laptop with a 286
processor, 1MB of RAM, math coprocessor, 40MB
(28msec) hard disk, and a monochrome LCD screen.
Ease of Use
Harvard Graphics is the easiest to use by far, followed
by Charisma (for basics). Charisma is not easy to leam
(tiiough I could do some things without reading the manual). First one must leam Windows to run the program
(a realtime version of Windows is provided on request).
I had to go through the documentation to be able to make
charts and tables and cope with options in the draw mode.
In two cases the manusds did not correspond to the computer screen. Once one is familiar with Charisma, it is
fairly easy to use for the basics. However, I had to refer
back to the manual constantly for certain functions that
are not well described in the menus (especially setting
options). The actual size view and full page features are
nice. The major problem affecting ease of use is speed.
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The program was very slow to respond, especially in text
mode. Note that a 286 or 386 machine with at least 1MB
of RAM and a hard disk is needed to run Charisma.
DrawPerfect is difficult to use. I had to go through the
tutorial and the manual to leam most commands (the tutorial is very good). Even so, keep the manual or quick
reference guide handy (WordPerfect users will find it
somewhat easier because many keystrokes are the same).
DrawPerfect requires one to go through several layers of
options even if the default is selected and I sometimes
found myself lost. However, the program operated much
more quickly than Charisma. It operated easily without
a mouse (unlike Charisma and Powerpoint). The mouse
functions were sometimes cumbersome (a slight handicap for users who prefer mouse control). DrawPerfect
has a timed backup to prevent the loss of files.
Bouncing through Harvard Graphics is easy. The
tradeoff is having to go through several layers of menus
to get to where one wants to be. In only a few instances
did I have to refer to the manual. Most users will not
even have to go through the tutorial. If you get lost,
simply hit the escape key until you get someplace familiar. If the manual is needed, it is adequate. Harvard
Graphics has a built-in file directory that enables one to
attach an extended description of what is in the file. It
is very handy for keeping track of numerous unrelated
files.
I had to read the manual to be able to use Powerpoint.
The tutorial is very clear and easy to follow. However,
as with Charisma, some of the menu descriptions are not
intuitive. Again, Windows is needed to run Powerpoint.
Though Windows 3.0 is easier to leam than previous
versions, it is still not simple. Powerpoint is slower than
either Harvard Graphics or DrawPerfect. It is faster than
Charisma for text, but slower for data charts. The zoom
feature is limited to a maximum of full size with 66%,
50%, and 33% options. All Powerpoint slides must have
a title, a feature I did not care for (the title can be blank,
but one must erase it). One needs a 286 or 386 machine
with at least 1MB of RAM, a hard disk, and a mouse
to run Powerpoint. Powerpoint seemed to spin the hard
disk constantly, which I found annoying (probably because I only had 1MB of RAM).
Technical Support
DrawPerfect is unbeatable and Charisma is good.
Technical help for Charisma, Harvard Graphics, or Powerpoint is costly (they do not provide a toll-free number).
Micrografx (Charisma) answered the phones promptly
the several times I called (remember to have your license
number handy). Advice was adequate and friendly.
Support for DrawPerfect is not only free (800 number), but is as good as you can get. You might have to
wait a short time, but the phone will be busy if there are
too many callers (no fear of being put on etemal hold).
Support personnel are very helpful and knowledgeable.
They will hold your hand through the most simple of
questions and are more than willing to spend as much
time as it takes to solve your problem.
JOURNAL OF AAARKETING RESEARCH, / M Y 1991
After waiting a few minutes for Harvard Graphics advice, I opted for leaving a message. They retumed the
call an hour and a half later. A second call was connected immediately. Help was adequate and friendly.
Microsoft (Powerpoint) made me wait. It was very
frustrating to know the department budget was being decimated while I listened to elevator music. The tough
decision was deciding when or if to give up. The Windows 3.0 line gave an estimate for how long it would
take to get support (sometimes up to 30 minutes). The
Powerpoint line did not provide an estimate of the wait
time. I usually waited three to five minutes (it seemed
longer). Help was adequate.
Text Charts
Charisma is the most versatile. DrawPerfect and Powerpoint have some very nice features.
Charisma performance was generally excellent. The
word chart option has eight predefined templates. The
arrangement, fonts, and bullets can easily be changed
(one can also save the changes as templates for other
charts). The text editor is excellent and I found it easier
to use than the word charts option. The text editor allows
independent adjustment of the right and left margins. In
addition, one can adjust the left margin separately for
the first and second (and all subsequent) lines of text
(like Word for Windows). More important, this can be
done after one has entered the text or changed font styles.
The auto word wrap feature will move the text to the
appropriate line automatically. One can even change the
space between the first and second lines of text without
creating a new line group. Centering text over charts is
easy, even if the chart is not centered. There is a very
good selection of fonts including Greek letters. Font size
ranges from 1 to 70 points in 1-point increments, all with
excellent resolution. Charisma does not have a spell
checker (a major limitation).
DrawPerfect operated well in the text mode. Changing
fonts and font sizes is easy (like Charisma, it has a font
preview window for selecting fonts). The two text modes
are freeform and text within a predefined space (text box).
The word wrap feature works only in the text box mode
(not in word chart of freeform text mode). Any text falling outside the box is not included in the table, but
changing the box size is easy. There are several character sets, including Greek letters. DrawPerfect has plenty
of word chart templates, which you will need because
changing the characteristics of the word charts is difficult. For example, to change bullets, delete the existing
bullet and then import and position a graphic. Bold,
underline, italics (etc.) are easy to add and font styles
can be mixed. A spell checker can be run if one has
WordPerfect and runs the program from Shell 3.0 (provided). Unfortunately, only one word group can be spell
checked at a time. For example, if a word chart has six
entries, the spell checker must be run six times.
Harvard Graphics' text features are easy to use. It has
several types of word charts from which to select. After
selecting the type of chart, one can very easily change
NEW BOOKS IN REVIEW
the location and size of the text. Unfortunately, this simplicity comes at a price, most noticeably the lack of an
auto word wrap feature. Changing the font size would
either push some of the text off the page or leave a lot
of blank space at the end of the line (not a problem unless two lines go together). If text is entered by using
the draw option, the program will simply beep that there
is not enough space and will ask you to change the font
size. The number of font styles is limited and there is
no way to have different fonts on the same page with
the word chart option. Harvard Graphics does have a
speller option that will check spelling for a complete word
chart. An application called Draw Partner is included.
Text editing can be done with this program as well. One
of the more interesting options is circle text (text is printed
in a circular pattem). Draw Partner (and draw/annotate)
will allow for multiple fonts in the same chart.
Powerpoint acts a lot like Word (Microsoft's word
processor). There are two ways to enter text, the labeler
and the word processor. The labeler is a simple way to
add short lines of text, such as a label. The word processor is used for longer sections. The word processor
has an auto word wrap feature with several adjustable
indents and margins. Setting line spacing is easy and intuitive. Selections include left, right, or full justification
levels. The speller is nice, but very slow. It prompted
me to continue after each carriage retum it encountered
rather than simply checking the whole page automatically. There are prompts to select proper spelling, change
spelling, and continue checking, as well as a find and
find/replace option. One real drawback is making bullets. I had to type in bullets as characters from one of
the character sets, which was cumbersome because font
styles must be changed for the bullet and then changed
back to the text font. Powerpoint has a limited selection
of font styles and, more important, a limited selection
of font sizes. In addition, not all sizes are of high quality; for some sizes, the edges of the letters are not smooth.
Data Charts
Charisma is excellent and Powerpoint is almost as good.
Harvard Graphics and DrawPerfect are more cumbersome to use, but equally or more powerful.
Charisma's charting options are fabulous (similar to
Excel, with a few more options). Creating and changing
charts is very easy. Simply call up a spreadsheet-style
work area, import or input the data, highlight the data
to chart, and select the chart type. If you do not like the
way a bar chart looks, you can easily change to any one
of seven types, including table charts, with a few clicks
of the mouse buttons. You can even do bivariate linear,
exponential, and log regression (the equation, R^, and
line are shown in the scattergram). Titles are added after
the chart is made and are very easy to create or modify,
as are labels. Numerous modifications can be made to
the data charts.
DrawPerfect's data charts are the weakest link in the
program. One can make all types of charts and switch
from one type of chart to another, but the program is not
255
as quick or elegant as Charisma or Powerpoint. Modifying chart characteristics is cumbersome (though
changing labels is easy). Saving chart data in raw form
is not possible, but the data can be modified if the chart
is edited later. It is also not possible to make a table from
the chart option.
Harvard Graphics data charts are slightly more difficult to work with than the word charts or drawing option, but are still straightforward. One can control all the
information on the chart, and even perform numerous
arithmetic functions both within series and across series
of data. For example, if you want a moving average,
simply create a variable and use the calculate command
to create the data. Linear, exponential, log, and power
regression also can be performed.
The Powerpoint charting feature is extremely slow. It
is pattemed after Excel and is similar to Charisma. The
graph feature calls up a spreadsheet work area and simultaneously displays the chart. Switch between the two
by clicking the mouse. Any changes in the data are shown
instantly on the chart display. Selecting among chart types
is very simple. It is also easy to modify labels and other
characteristics of the chart. Though the Charisma and
Powerpoint charting features are similar, I found Charisma easier to use.
Drawing Figures
Charisma is clearly the best, followed by DrawPerfect. Powerpoint has several limitations.
Graphics packages make line and arrow drawings for
manuscripts much easier than hand drawing. I find the
most difficult drawing is a causal model with curved lines
(arrows at the end), aligned circles and boxes, etc. I attempted to make a simple causal model diagram with
each of the packages.
Charisma performed very well on the draw options and
could handle all but the most complicated drafting tasks.
It was easy to create symmetric curved lines to indicate
correlations between constructs, as well as to add Greek
letters (or text) to the drawing. The zoom feature enables
one to select the area to zoom in on. A call to technical
support was necessary to figure out how the snap feature
worked, but it made aligning boxes and circles easy. It
also automatically centers text inside any shape. C!harisma does everything the other packages can do and more.
It is not quite as powerful as a drafting package, but is
much easier to use. A friend of mine who saw Charisma's (as well as Harvard Graphics' and Powerpoint's)
draw features decided to switch from AutoCad (drafting
package) to Charisma. Need I say more?
DrawPerfect performed well on the drawing options.
However, I would have liked a few additional features
(e.g., I could not add arrows to curved or straight lines).
The zoom feature allows for quick zooming in on any
section of the chart. Modifying drawings is easy using
anchor points. The snap and rotate features are also very
easy to use. Greek letters are simple to add to the figure.
Curved lines are easy to make and control.
Harvard Graphics has two different drawing options.
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The Draw/Annotate option is properly discussed in the
Customizing Charts section. It is really designed to spruce
up charts rather than create complicated drawings. Creating curved lines is very difflcult. One cannot control
the size of the arrowheads on straight lines or add arrows
to curved lines. Greek letters must be imported as symbols rather than text, and the quality is not as good as
in either DrawPerfect or Charisma. There is no zoom or
rotate option. Draw Partner is an application available
in Harvard Graphics. It is accessible only from the chart
option, but one can get a blank screen if one starts with
a freeform text chart. Draw Partner allows for curved
lines (arcs only) with arrows. It has both zoom and rotate
options.
Powerpoint drawing features are minimal. One can
make lines, boxes, and circles, but not curved lines. There
is no real grid system (or location coordinates). The "grid"
is a single horizontal and vertical line. Forget any fancy
graphics; this is bare bones stuff. On the bright side, text
is centered automatically when you select an object and
simply type the words (even if you include a carriage
retum). Unfortunately, if the object is too small the words
simply move outside the boundaries (you can resize the
object).
Overall Evaluation
Charisma. I like Charisma very much. It is the most
versatile of the packages. A few simple additional features would be nice but with the exception of the spell
checker, they are minor. Once you get the hang of things,
the program is fairly easy to use (especially the data charts)
and very powerful. The only drawback is that it can be
very slow. I became frustrated with the lag time, especially in the text mode. Unfortunately, if you have an
XT machine you cannot use Charisma. Documentation
and technical support are adequate.
DrawPerfect. I expected great things from WordPerfect Corp. and was only slightly disappointed.
DrawPerfect is able to do most things that need to be
done—it is just not as elegant or powerful as Charisma.
The major advantage is that a powerful machine is not
needed to run DrawPerfect; an XT (8088 processor) is
sufflcient. DrawPerfect is the only program that would
run without a hard disk (one needs only two 720K or
larger disk drives, but a hard disk is preferred).
WordPerfect Corp. also provides excellent technical
support. If you use WordPerfect, you will like the compatibility and spell check features. The auto word wrap
feature in text (box) mode is a luxury I do not want to
live without. If you do not have the equipment to run
Charisma, DrawPerfect will give similar performance on
a less powerful machine—^just keep the manual handy.
Harvard Graphics. This program is easy, easy, easy.
If you are not computer oriented and use graphics primarily for data charts (with simple word charts, and
drawings). Harvard Graphics is probably for you. It does
not have a word wrap feature for text (which can be very
frustrating) and complicated drawings can be difficult to
do, but one can woik around these problems—it just takes
JOURNAL OF AAARKETING RESEARCH, AAAY 1991
time. The charting option is comprehensive and will allow various calculations (so you need not leam or use a
separate spreadsheet package). The spell check option is
very handy. A hard disk is needed, but Harvard Graphics
will run on an XT machine.
Powerpoint. This program is billed as a desktop presentation program and it does not attempt to do exactly
the same things as the other graphics packages. In fact,
it is inappropriate to call it a graphics package. Powerpoint emphasizes putting together slide shows, at which
it is very good (e.g., slide management is easy and there
are 16 million colors from which to choose), if you need
to make graphic images, Powerpoint is not for you. If
you simply want to put together quick overheads, or organize a fancy 35 mm slide presentation, Powerpoint has
something to offer.
JOSEPH A. COTE
Washington State University
BOOKS AND SOFTWARE RECEIVED
Books
Brent, Edward E., Jr. and Ronald E. Anderson, Computer Applications in the Social Sciences. New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc., 1991.
Carroll, John S. and Eric J. Johnson, Decision Research: A Field
Guide, Applied Social Research Methods Series Volume 22. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications, Inc., 1990.
Churchill, Gilbert A., Jr., Marketing Research: Methodological
Foundations, 5th ed. Chicago: The Dryden Press, 1991.
Daniel, Wayne W., Applied Nonparametric Statistics, 2nd ed. Boston: PWS-Kent Publishing Company, 1990.
Dickinson, John R., The Bibtiography of Marketing Research Methods, 3rd ed. Lexington MA: Lexington Books, D.C. Heath and
Company, 1990.
Farley, John U. and Donald R. Lehmann, Meta-Anatysis in Marketing: Generalization cf Response Models. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books, D.C. Heath and Company, 1986.
Hunt, Shelby D., Modern Marketing Theory: Critical Issues in the
Philosophy of Marketing Science. Cincinnati, OH: South-Western
Publishing Co., 1991.
Johnson, Blair T., DSTAT: Software for the Meta-Analytic Review of
Research Literatures. Hillsdaie, NJ: Lawrence Eribaum Associates,
Publishers, 1989.
Katzer, Jeffrey, Kenneth H. Cook, and Wayne W. Crouch, Evaluating Information: A Guide for Users of Social Science Information.
New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc., 1991.
Kubey, Robert and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Television and the Quality
of Life: How Viewing Shapes Everyday Experience. Hillsdaie, NJ:
Lawrence Eribaum Associates, Publishers, 1990.
Morgan, Richard, J. Walter Takeover: From Divine Right to Common
Stock. Homewood, IL: Richard D. Irwin, Inc., 1991.
Mullen, Brian, Advanced BASIC Meta-Analysis. Hillsdaie, NJ: Lawrence Eribaum Associates, Publishers, 1989.
Oakes, Guy, The Soul of the Salesman: The Moral Ethos of Personal
Sales. Atlantic Highlands, NJ: Humanities Press Intemational, Inc.,
1990.
Ryans, John K., Jr. and Pradeep A. Rau, Marketing Strategies for
the New Europe. Chicago: American Marketing Association, 1990.
Smidts, A., Decision Making Under Risk, Wageningse Economische
Studies Volume 18. Wageningen, Germany: Wageningen Agricultural University, 1990.