Sensitive Research: a Trial of Retrospective Analysis and Conceptualizations

Abstract

The article is devoted to understanding the problem of sensitivity in survey research. A retrospective analysis of the formation and development of the field of scientific knowledge, which in western sociology in the 1990’s was refereed to as “sensitive research”, is presented. A brief historical outline of the study of sensitive issues is given with an emphasis on the most prominent schools in world sociology and the most renowned authors who have made a significant contribution to the study of this topic (representatives of the Chicago School, A. Kinsey, S. Warner, G.S. Becker, R. Lee, C. Renzetti, R. Tourangeau, T. Yang and others). The early and modern conceptualizations of sensitivity are critically analyzed, the weaknesses and shortcomings of both expansive (J. Sieber and B. Stanley) and restrictive (N. Farberow) interpretations of this concept are shown. A multifactorial approach developed by R. Lee and K. Renzetti is considered as an alternative, one that takes into account various types of threats that determine the sensitive nature of the questions asked and the answers received. The social nature of sensitivity is discussed. It is shown how the socio-cultural context and the specifics of respondents’ perception of questions influence the results of survey studies. The main consequences of using sensitive issues in sociological research are also analyzed. At the same time, there are three most dangerous effects that have a detrimental effect on the quality of empirical data: weakening cooperation on behalf of respondents, the increase in the number of missing questions (non-answers) and the emergence of socially desirable (insincere) answers. The factors causing these effects are identified, and methods are proposed to help neutralize them. Conclusions are drawn about the socio-cultural conditionality of question sensitivity, its contextual and situational nature.