ASKING SENSITIVE QUESTIONS: THE IMPACT OF DATA COLLECTION MODE, QUESTION FORMAT, AND QUESTION CONTEXT

This study compared three methods of collecting survey dataabout sexual behaviors and other sensitive topics: computer-assistedpersonal interviewing (CAPI), computer-assisted self-administeredinterviewing (CASI), and audio computer-assisted self-administeredinterviewing (ACASI). Interviews were conducted with an areaprobability sample of more than 300 adults in Cook County, Illinois.The experiment also compared open and closed questions aboutthe number of sex partners and varied the context in which thesex partner items were embedded. The three mode groups did notdiffer in response rates, but the mode of data collection didaffect the level of reporting of sensitive behaviors: both formsof self-administration tended to reduce the disparity betweenmen and women in the number of sex partners reported. Self-admimstration,especially via ACASI, also increased the proportion of respondentsadmitting that they had used illicit drugs. In addition, whenthe closed answer options emphasized the low end of the distribution,fewer sex partners were reported than when the options emphasizedthe high end of the distribution; responses to the open-endedversions of the sex partner items generally fell between responsesto the two closed versions.