in deciding which house to survey or whom to interview. They introduced themselves as from the UCA because it is well known and generally regarded by the public as the most politically neutral of Managua's universities.

In the two weeks after the survey, verification teams visited an average of four homes in each of the eighteen neighborhoods surveyed. They checked that the interview had indeed taken place, how the interviewer had come across, and had a general political discussion with the person who had been interviewed to make sure the survey answers were on track. Two foreign scholars accompanied the verification team for some of the follow-up work.

Fear and Mistrust on the Survey Trail

A common charge of both the US Administration and the Nicaraguan political opposition is that themade during other Central American polls. First, the rate for refusal to be interviewed was 10.6% on day one, dropping to less than 5% on the second day, very low by Central American standards. Overall, 88% of those interviewed showed no fear. Of those who identified with the Sandinistas, 92% answered openly, while those who identified with the opposition parties were marginally more confident—94% showed no hesitation in answering the survey. Those who identified with no party were the least confident, but 85% still responded without fear.

In Honduras, by contrast, in a survey carried out by the National University's Journalism School, only 38% of those surveyed answered without fear. In another measure of political anxiety, the Hondurans were asked if people in their country were afraid to publicly