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Sensitive questions in surveys.

Roger Tourangeau1, Ting Yan

  • 1Joint Program in Survey Methodology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA. rtourang@survey.umd.edu

Psychological Bulletin
|August 29, 2007
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

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See all related articles

Misreporting sensitive information in surveys is common and influenced by situational factors. Respondents often edit their answers to avoid embarrassment or negative consequences, impacting survey accuracy.

Area of Science:

  • Social Psychology
  • Survey Methodology
  • Behavioral Research

Background:

  • Social desirability bias can distort personality measures.
  • Survey accuracy is a concern for sensitive topics like drug use and sexual behavior.
  • Previous research highlights potential reporting errors in surveys.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review survey methodology research on reporting errors in sensitive topic surveys.
  • To compare these findings with psychological literature on social desirability.
  • To understand the factors influencing misreporting in surveys.

Main Methods:

  • Literature review of survey methodology studies.
  • Analysis of research on reporting errors in sensitive surveys.
  • Comparison with psychological studies on social desirability bias.

Related Experiment Videos

Main Results:

  • Misreporting on sensitive topics is prevalent in surveys.
  • Reporting errors are largely situational, depending on respondent's circumstances.
  • Survey design features significantly impact the extent of misreporting.
  • Misreporting is a motivated process to avoid self-embarrassment or third-party repercussions.

Conclusions:

  • Reporting errors on sensitive topics are common and situational.
  • Respondent motivation and survey design are key factors in misreporting.
  • Understanding these factors is crucial for improving survey data accuracy.