Sensitive Questions in Cross-National Comparative Surveys

The article is devoted to the problem of survey items that ask for sensitive information. This factor has a significant impact on the quality and comparability of data from international surveys. We propose a methodology that can be used to comparatively study the level of sensitivity of questions. It is often used in public opinion polls as well as in marketing and academic studies. We were able to use it to identify similarities and differences in what questions are considered sensitive by the different populations of the nine countries of the former Soviet Union as a whole as well as among particular socio-demographic groups. The study analyzes the reasons why certain questions are considered to be sensitive: the violation of various norms, whether legal or political, social or moral, communication etiquette or beliefs about what constitutes private information. We developed a classification of sensitive questions based on the reasons that were identified. The obtained results allow us to better understand the reasons of why certain questions are considered to be sensitive, to develop an approach to how this concept should be defined, and to identify the differences between sensitive questions and those that are perceived to have other qualities, such as those that are "threatening" and questions fraught with social desirability effect. The results of this comparative study can be used to improve the tools and to allow a deeper analysis of cross-national survey data

Comparability · Epistemology · Etiquette · European Social Survey · Political science · Politics · Public opinion · Public relations · Sociology · Computational and Text Analysis Methods · Law · Psychology · Social Psychology · Survey Methodology and Nonresponse · Survey Sampling and Estimation Techniques

• The Psychology of Survey Response

  Open Access•Roger Tourangeau, Lance J Rips et al.•Psychology of Survey Response•2000

  Incluir item

• Improving Interview Method and Questionnaire Design

  Bernard S Phillips, Norman M Bradburn et al.•Contemporary Sociology A Journal…•1981

  Incluir item

• Social Desirability and Response Validity

  Jeffrey A Karp, David Brockington•The Journal of Politics•2005

  Incluir item

• Nonresponse Error, Measurement Error, And Mode Of Data Collection

  Joseph W Sakshaug, Ting Yan et al.•Public Opinion Quarterly•2010

  Incluir item

• Sensitive questions in surveys

  Roger Tourangeau, Ting Yan•Psychological Bulletin•2007

  Incluir item

• Cross-Cultural Cognitive Interviewing

  Open Access•Gordon B Willis, Kristen Miller•CAM•2011

  Incluir item