Asking Questions - The Definitive Guide To Questionnaire Design ...

90 ASKING QUESTIONS
from 55 percent to 60 percent of voting-age citizens. In the end,
though, this is only one attempt in a line of attempts to garner a
more accurate response from the survey.
Traffic Violations
Four Examples of Questions on
Socially Undesirable Behavior
Traffic violations range in threat from relatively minor violations,
such as a parking ticket, to much more serious violations, such as
driving under the influence of alcohol. In a methodological study
we conducted in Chicago, two separate strategies were used in an
attempt to improve reporting. First, a series of questions was asked
about various traffic violations so that respondents would not know
that driving under the influence of alcohol was the topic of primary
research interest. Second, randomized response procedures were
used. Figure 3.6 shows how the interviewer presented these procedures.
(These procedures were also used on other topics in the questionnaire.)
Using randomized response makes it possible to estimate
the proportion of the population engaging in certain threatening
behaviors, but it does not help determine the isolated behavior of a
single, specific respondent. (The procedure is explained in greater
detail later in the chapter.)
Randomized response is one method for assuring respondents
that the interviewer will not know what answer is given. It gives
them a feeling of anonymity. Another method is to use selfadministered
questionnaires. Although increasing the anonymity
of response generally reduces reporting errors, such errors are
not eliminated entirely. (See Figure 3.6.) For very threatening
socially undesirable behavior such as drunk driving, 35 percent
of a sample of respondents chosen from traffic court records
denied being charged with drunken driving even with randomized
response procedures. Still, this was a lower response error
than the 50 percent underreporting that was found using standard
procedures.