BACKGROUND: Even though the validity of self-reports of sensitive behaviors is threatened by social desirability bias, interviews and questionnaires are widely used in epidemiologic surveys on these topics. METHODS: In the randomized-response technique, a randomization device is used to determine whether participants are asked to respond truthfully or whether they are prompted to provide a prespecified response. In this study, the randomized-response technique was extended by using a cheating-detection modification to obtain more valid data. The survey was on the dental hygiene habits of Chinese college students. RESULTS: Whereas only 35% of men and 10% of women admitted to insufficient dental hygiene when questioned directly, 51% of men and 20% of women attested to this socially undesirable behavior in a randomized-response survey. CONCLUSIONS: Given the considerable discrepancy between the results obtained by direct questioning and by using the randomized-response technique, we propose that this technique be considered for use in epidemiologic studies of sensitive behaviors.
RCT Entities:
BACKGROUND: Even though the validity of self-reports of sensitive behaviors is threatened by social desirability bias, interviews and questionnaires are widely used in epidemiologic surveys on these topics. METHODS: In the randomized-response technique, a randomization device is used to determine whether participants are asked to respond truthfully or whether they are prompted to provide a prespecified response. In this study, the randomized-response technique was extended by using a cheating-detection modification to obtain more valid data. The survey was on the dental hygiene habits of Chinese college students. RESULTS: Whereas only 35% of men and 10% of women admitted to insufficient dental hygiene when questioned directly, 51% of men and 20% of women attested to this socially undesirable behavior in a randomized-response survey. CONCLUSIONS: Given the considerable discrepancy between the results obtained by direct questioning and by using the randomized-response technique, we propose that this technique be considered for use in epidemiologic studies of sensitive behaviors.
Authors: Andrea Petróczi; Martina Uvacsek; Tamás Nepusz; Nawed Deshmukh; Iltaf Shah; Eugene V Aidman; James Barker; Miklós Tóth; Declan P Naughton Journal: PLoS One Date: 2011-04-26 Impact factor: 3.240
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Authors: Tamara Wright; Atin Adhikari; Jingjing Yin; Robert Vogel; Stacy Smallwood; Gulzar Shah Journal: Int J Environ Res Public Health Date: 2019-06-05 Impact factor: 3.390
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