Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

Randomized response (RR) is an interview technique designed to eliminate response bias when sensitive questions are asked. In RR the answer depends partly on the true status of the respondent and partly on the outcome of a randomizing device. Although RR elicits more honest answers than direct questions do, it is susceptible to self-protective response behavior; that is, the respondent gives an evasive answer irrespective of the outcome of the randomizing device. The authors present a log-linear RR model that accounts for this kind of self-protection (SP). The main results of this SP model are estimates of (1) the probability of SP, (2) the log-linear parameters describing the associations between the sensitive characteristics, and (3) the prevalence of the sensitive characteristics that are corrected for SP. The model is illustrated with two examples from a Dutch survey measuring noncompliance with social welfare rules.

Keywords

randomized response log-linear model self-protective response behavior regulatory noncompliance

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Böckenholt, Ulf and Peter G. M. van der Heijden. 2004. ``Measuring Noncompliance in Insurance Benefit Regulations With Randomized Response Methods for Multiple Items.'' Pp. 106-10, in Proceedings of the 19th International Workshop on Statistical Modelling, edited by A. Biggeri et al. Florence, Italy: University of Florence.

———. Forthcoming. ``Item Randomized-Response Models for Measuring Noncompliance: Risk-Return Perceptions, Social Influences, and Self-Protective Responses .'' Psychometrika.

Boeije, Henny and Gerty Lensvelt-Mulders . 2002. ``Honest by Chance: A Qualitative Interview Study to Clarify Respondents' (Non)-Compliance With Computer-Assisted Randomized Response.'' Bulletin de Methodologie Sociologique 75:24-39.

Chaudhuri, Arijit and Rahul Mukerjee. 1988. Randomized Response: Theory and Techniques . New York: Marcel Dekker.

Chen, Timothy T. 1989. ``A Review of Methods for Misclassified Categorical Data in Epidemiology.'' Statistics in Medicine 8:1095-106.

Clark, Stephen J. and Robert A. Desharnais . 1998. ``Honest Answers to Embarrassing Questions: Detecting Cheating in the Randomized Response Model.'' Psychological Methods 3:160-8.

Edgell, Stephen E. , Samuel Himmelfarb , and Karen L. Duncan . 1982. ``Validity of Forced Response in a Randomized Response Model.'' Sociological Methods & Research 11:89-110.

Gilula, Zvi and Shelby J. Haberman . 2001. ``Analysis of Categorical Response Profiles by Informative Summaries.'' Sociological Methodology 31:129-87.

Kuk, Anthony Y. C. 1990. ``Asking Sensitive Questions Indirectly.'' Biometrika 77:436-8.

10.

Lensvelt-Mulders , Gerty J.L.M. , Joop J. Hox , Peter G. M. van der Heijden , and Cora Maas. 2005. ``Meta-Analysis of Randomized Response Research, Thirty-Five Years of Validation.'' Sociological Methods & Research 33:319-48.

11.

Lensvelt-Mulders, Gerty , Peter G. M. van der Heijden , Olav Laudy , and Ger van Gils. 2006. ``A Validation of a Computer-Assisted Randomized Response Survey to Estimate the Prevalence of Fraud in Social Security .'' Journal of the Royal Statistical Association, Series A: Statistics in Society 169:305-18.

12.

van den Hout, Ardo and Peter G. M. van der Heijden. 2002. ``Randomized Response, Statistical Disclosure Control and Misclassification: A Review.'' International Statistical Review 70:269-88.

13.

———. 2004. ``The Analysis of Multivariate Misclassified Data With Special Attention to Randomized Response.'' Sociological Methods & Research 32:384-410.

14.

van der Heijden, Peter G. M. , G. Van Gils , J. Bouts , and J. Hox. 2000. ``A Comparison of Randomized Response, Computer-Assisted Self-Interview and Face-To-Face Direct-Questioning.'' Sociological Methods & Research 28:505-37.

15.

van Gils, Ger , Peter G. M van der Heijden , and Annemarie Rosebeek . 2001. Randomized Response: Onderzoek naar Regelovertreding [in Dutch]. Amsterdam, Netherlands: NIPO.

16.

Warner, Stanley L. 1965. ``Randomized Response: A Survey Technique for Eliminating Answer Bias.'' Journal of the American Statistical Association 60:63-9.

Log-Linear Randomized-Response Models Taking Self-Protective Response Behavior Into Account

Abstract

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References