Begin, Boivin, and Bellerose (1979) presented an hypothesis relating the random response technique to the sensitivity of questionnaire items. This hypothesis states that if one assumes the random response technique assures subjects a greater degree of anonymity than the traditional direct questionnaire method, then a comparison between these two methods would be a direct and useful index of the social disirability of a particular trait, behavior, or attitude. It is proposed that if the proportion of “yes” responses to a particular item was higher for the direct questionnaire group than the random response group, then the item was socially desirable. If the converse resulted, the item was socially undesirable. The Marlow-Crowne Social Desirability Scale (Crowne and Marlowe, 1960; Crowne and Marlowe, 1964) was used to test this hypothesis. The results suggest a potential new use for the random response technique. The implications of this procedure for scale construction are also discussed.
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