SURVEY RESEARCHviewer is available to help or answer questions.
Respondents hear questions over earphones and/or
read them on a screen and then enter answers with-
out the interviewer directly observing. While com-
pleting computer-based interviews, respondents
appear to believe they have privacy even if others
are present.^22
A complicated method for asking sensitive
questions in face-to-face interview situations is
therandomized response technique (RRT).The
technique uses statistics beyond the level of this
book but is similar to the method described in the
chapter’s opening box on female presidential can-
didates. The basic idea is to use known probabili-
ties to estimate unknown proportions. Here is how
RRT works. An interviewer gives the respondent
two questions: One is threatening (e.g., “Do you
use heroin?”), the other not threatening (e.g., “Were
you born in September?”). A random method (e.g.,
toss of a coin, using heads to indicate the heroin
question and tails for the birthdate question) is used
to select the question to answer. The interviewer
does not see the question and records the respon-
dent’s answer (yes or no). By using the probability
of the random outcomes (e.g., the percent of peo-
ple born in September), we can estimate the fre-
quency of the sensitive behavior.
We want honest answers to questions on sensi-
tive topics and want to reduce the chances that
respondents will give a less-than-honest sociallyComputer-assisted personal interviewing (CAPI)
Technique in which an interviewer sets up a laptop
computer and is available to help respondents who
hear questions over earphones and/or read them on a
screen and then enter answers.Computer-assisted self-administered interviewing
(CASAI) Technique in which a respondent reads
questions on a computer screen or listens over ear-
phones and then answers by moving a computer
mouse or typing on a keyboard.answers from respondents. We also can ask sensi-
tive questions only after a “warm-up period” of ask-
ing nonthreatening questions and creating feelings
of trust or comfort.
2.Use enhanced phrasing.Modify question
wording to reduce threat. For example, you could
ask “Have you ever shoplifted?” which carries an
accusatory tone and uses the emotional word
shopliftthat names an illegal act. You could get at
the same behavior by asking “Have you ever taken
anything from a store without paying for it?” This
only describes the behavior, avoids using emotional
words, and leaves open the possibility that it hap-
pened under acceptable conditions (e.g., acciden-
tally forgetting to pay).
3.Establish a desensitizing context.We can
also reduce threat and make it easier for respondents
to answer honestly about sensitive topics by pro-
viding desensitized contextual information. One
way is to first asking about behaviors more serious
than ones of real interest to us. For example, a
respondent may hesitate to answer a question about
shoplifting, but if it follows questions regarding a
long list of serious crimes (e.g., armed robbery,
burglary), it will appear less serious and might be
answered honestly.
4.Use anonymous questioning methods.The
questioning format significantly affects how respon-
dents answer sensitive questions. Formats that per-
mit increased anonymity, such as a self-administered
questionnaire or a Web-based survey, increase the
likelihood of honest responses to sensitive questions
over formats that require interacting with another
person as in a face-to-face interview.^21
Technological innovations such as computer-
assisted self-administered interviewing (CASAI)
and computer-assisted personal interviewing
(CAPI)enable respondents to have a degree of
anonymity. CASAI “interviews” a respondent by
having the person read questions on a computer
screen or listen to them with earphones. The
respondent answers by moving a computer mouse
or typing on a keyboard. Even when an interviewer
or others are present in the same room, the respon-
dent is semi-insulated from human contact and
interacts only with an automated system. In CAPI,
the respondent uses a laptop computer, and an inter-
Randomized response technique (RRT) A special-
ized method in survey research used for very sensitive
topics; the random receipt of a question by the respon-
dent without the interviewer being aware of the ques-
tion to which the respondent is answering.