The Nonverbal Response Card Method for Soliciting Responses to Sensitive Questions

• Activity Number: 427
• Type: Contributed
• Date/Time: Tuesday, August 2, 2011 : 2:00 PM to 3:50 PM
• Sponsor: Section on Survey Research Methods
• Author(s): David P. Lindstrom*+ and Megan Klein Hattori
• Companies: Brown University and Brown University
• Keywords: Survey Response Bias ; Sensitive Questions

Abstract

This study presents results from a new non-verbal response card method for obtaining more accurate responses to questions about sexual knowledge, attitudes and behavior in the context of interviewer-administered questionnaires. The effectiveness of the cards was tested in two random samples of young people ages 13-24 in southwest Ethiopia (n=201 and n=1,269) using a randomized control trial design in which one-half of the sample used the response cards and the other half of the sample provided verbal responses. The non-verbal response card method produces estimates of the prevalence of pre-marital and extra-marital sexual intercourse that are around twice as high as the estimates provided by the conventional verbal response method. We also found that estimates of the percentage of youth who knew where to obtain condoms were approximately 22 percent lower among youth who used the more private and confidential card method as compared to the verbal response method. Results from two rounds of a longitudinal survey of youth in the same area provide additional evidence of the internal reliability of the card method. The non-verbal response card provides a more private and confidential me