Asking Sensitive Questions

Abstract

This article is an empirical contribution to the evaluation of the randomized response technique (RRT), a prominent procedure to elicit more valid responses to sensitive questions in surveys. Based on individual validation data, we focus on two questions: First, does the RRT lead to higher prevalence estimates of sensitive behavior than direct questioning (DQ)? Second, are there differences in the effects of determinants of misreporting according to question mode? The data come from 552 face-to-face interviews with subjects who had been convicted by a court for minor criminal offences in a metropolitan area in Germany. For the first question, the answer is negative. For the second, it is positive, that is, effects of individual and situational determinants of misreporting differ between the two question modes. The effect of need for social approval, for example, tends to be stronger in RRT than in DQ mode. Interviewer experience turns out to be positively related to answer validity in DQ and negatively in RRT mode. Our findings support a skeptical position toward RRT, shed new light on long-standing debates within survey methodology, and stimulate theoretical reasoning about response behavior in surveys.