Response bias

Response bias

Response bias is a type of cognitive bias which can affect the results of a statistical survey if respondents answer questions in the way they think the questioner wants them to answer rather than according to their true beliefs. This may occur if the questioner is obviously angling for a particular answer (as in push polling) or if the respondent wishes to please the questioner by answering what appears to be the "morally right" answer. An example of the latter might be if a woman surveys a man on his attitudes to domestic violence, or someone who obviously cares about the environment asks people how much they value a wilderness area.

This occurs most often in the "wording of the question". Response bias is present when a question contains a leading opinion. For example, saying "Given that at the age of 18 people are old enough to fight and die for your country, don't you think they should be able to drink alcohol as well?" yields a response bias. It is better to say "Do you think 18 year olds should be able to drink alcohol?"

It also occurs in situations of voluntary response, such as phone-in polls, where the people who care enough to call are not necessarily a statistically representative sample of the actual population.

ee also

*Acquiescence bias
*Likert scale
*Social desirability bias
*Heckman correction

External links

* [http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=9613 Estimation of Response Bias in the NHES:95 Adult Education Survey]
* [http://www.srs.fs.usda.gov/pubs/20254 Effects of road sign wording on visitor survey - non-response bias]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • response bias — An error that results from the tendency of people to answer a marketing research question falsely, either through deliberate misrepresentation or unconscious falsification …   Big dictionary of business and management

  • Non-response bias — occurs in statistical surveys if the answers of respondents differ from the potential answers of those who did not answer. Contents 1 Example 2 Test 3 Related terminology 4 See also …   Wikipedia

  • Bias — This article is about different ways the term bias is used . For other uses, see Bias (disambiguation). Bias is an inclination to present or hold a partial perspective at the expense of (possibly equally valid) alternatives. Bias can come in many …   Wikipedia

  • Response surface methodology — (RSM) explores the relationships between several explanatory variables and one or more response variables. The method was introduced by G. E. P. Box and K. B. Wilson in 1951. The main idea of RSM is to use a set of designed experiments to obtain… …   Wikipedia

  • bias — [bī′əs] n. pl. biases [MFr biais, a slope, slant < OFr < OProv < ?] 1. a line, cut or sewn diagonally across the weave of cloth, as in making seams, binding tape, etc. 2. a mental leaning or inclination; partiality; bent 3. Lawn Bowling… …   English World dictionary

  • Систематическая ошибка в ответах (response bias) — Под С. о. в о. подразумевается любой способ или паттерн реагирования на пункты теста, выражающийся в том, что тестируемые отвечают на них иначе, чем если бы они отвечали на эти пункты при предъявлении их к. л. др. способом. Этот отличный паттерн… …   Психологическая энциклопедия

  • Bias (electrical engineering) — In electrical engineering, the term bias has the following meanings: # A systematic deviation of a value from a reference value. # The amount by which the average of a set of values departs from a reference value. # Electrical, mechanical,… …   Wikipedia

  • Response Set — Verzerrung oder Antwortverzerrung ist eine Art von Fehler in einer Erhebung und eine Systematische Verzerrung. Sie bezeichnet in der Empirie das Phänomen, dass bei Meinungsumfragen häufig nicht die tatsächlichen Einstellungen (= wahrer Wert)… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Response set — Verzerrung oder Antwortverzerrung ist eine Art von Fehler in einer Erhebung und eine Systematische Verzerrung. Sie bezeichnet in der Empirie das Phänomen, dass bei Meinungsumfragen häufig nicht die tatsächlichen Einstellungen (= wahrer Wert)… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • bias — See interview bias ; interviewer bias ; non response ; objective ; observer bias ; prejudice ; sample selection bias ; sampling error …   Dictionary of sociology

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”