# **2 Survey methods to measure sensitive topics**

There is robust evidence that people underreport the truth about sensitive topics when they are directly asked in a survey. Such research compares self-reported survey answers to observed or independently verifiable outcomes such as tax records, receipt of welfare benefits, drug prescriptions for mental illness, and voting in an abortion law referendum (Bharadwaj, Pai and Suziedelyte, 2017; Meyer and Mittag, 2019; Gottschalk and Huynh, 2010; Murray-Close and Heggeness, 2018; Rosenfeld, Imai and Shapiro, 2016).

However, reliable, unbiased observational data are rare for many sensitive topics, including IPV.<sup>5</sup> This is particularly true in developing countries, where there is limited available administrative data from the medical or legal services that IPV survivors may use. Further, where these services are available, the people able or choosing to access them are likely not representative of the broader population of those experiencing IPV.<sup>6</sup> As a result of these administrative data limitations and concerns about underreporting on face-toface surveys, researchers are considering alternative survey methods to minimize misreporting bias. Two popular alternative methods, ACASI and the list experiment, address slightly different motivations for misreporting. The ACASI method is primarily designed to overcome misreporting driven by shame when responding face-to-face to an enumerator, while the list experiment addresses misreporting driven by a preference for anonymity or fear of repercussions if one’s answer becomes known, as well as shame. Table 1 shows these methods by their approach to questioning and administration.

Table 1: Method comparisons by <u>questioning</u> method and administration

||Question & answer through enumerator|Question & answer through tablet|
|---|---|---|
|Direct questioning method|Face-to-face (status quo)|ACASI|
|Indirect questioning method|List experiment||

## **2.1 More Privacy: Audio Computer-Assisted Self-Interview**

ACASI is a method of data collection where respondents listen to pre-recorded questions through headphones and respond by selecting their answers (for example, the corresponding colored square) on a touchscreen or keypad.<sup>7</sup> After demonstrating how to use the technology, enumerators stand a small distance from the respondent and ensure that privacy is maintained.

ACASI eliminates the embarrassment that respondents may feel about disclosing a sensitive answer face-to-face with an enumerator, potentially minimizing underreporting (Falb et al., 2016; Jarlais et al., 1999; Jaya, Hindin and Ahmed, 2008; Langhaug, Sherr and Cowan, 2010). If shame is a key driver of underreporting, then reporting under ACASI should be greater than face-to-face. ACASI may also reduce enumerator-associated variance by providing a more uniform approach to data collection.

> 5Tourangeau and Yan (2007) define sensitive questions as those a respondent deems intrusive; where they fear the threat of disclosure and the possible consequences of giving a truthful response; or where there are social norms that imply there are socially desirable and undesirable responses.

> 6Palermo, Bleck and Peterman (2014) analyzed data from 24 developing countries DHSs and found that only 7 percent of women who report experiencing IPV made a report to a formal source that would then be captured in administrative data.

> 7Figure A1 in the appendix shows ACASI being used.

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