Validating the Use of Anchoring Vignettes for the Correction of Response Scale Differences in Subjctive Questions

Comparing self-assessed indicators of subjective outcomes such as health, work disability, political efficacy, job satisfaction, etc. across countries or socio-economic groups is often hampered by the fact that different groups use different response scales. This paper develops an integrated framework in which objective measurements are used to validate vignette-based corrections. The framework is applied to objective and subjective self-assessments of drinking behavior by students in Ireland. Model comparisons using the Akaike information criterion favor a specification with response consistency and vignette corrected response scales. Put differently, vignette based corrections appear quite effective in bringing objective and subjective measures closer together.