What Works for Measuring Intimate Partner Violence: Evidence from a Series of List Experiments and Self-Administered Surveys

Abstract

This research evaluates methodologies to mitigate misreporting in intimate partner violence (IPV) data collection in a middle-income country. We conducted surveys in Russia involving three list experiments, a self-administered tablet questionnaire, a self-administered online survey, and conventional face-to-face interviews. Results show that list experiments yield lower disclosure rates for the complex IPV definitions suggested by the UN. The tablet-based self-administered questionnaire, conducted with an interviewer present, also did not increase IPV reporting. Conversely, the self-administered online survey increased lifetime IPV disclosures by 51% (physical) and 26% (psychological) compared to face-to-face interviews. Women showed greater sensitivity to the online survey mode. This increase is linked to the absence of interviewer bias, enhanced safety by minimizing potential perpetrators’ presence, and reduced cognitive burden. We argue that self-administered online surveys—using sampling bias mitigation—may thus be an optimal, low-cost method for surveying the general population in middle- and high-income countries.