Response bias
Encyclopedia
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 belief
s. 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?" may yield a response bias, in comparison with simply "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.
Non-response bias
is not the opposite of "response bias" and is not a type of cognitive bias: it occurs in a statistical survey
if those who respond to the survey differ in the outcome variable (for example, evaluation of the need for financial aid) from those who do not respond. Often, the differences, which may include race, gender or socioeconomic status, are reported and/or accounted for through statistical modelling in any publication of the results.
Cognitive bias
A cognitive bias is a pattern of deviation in judgment that occurs in particular situations. Implicit in the concept of a "pattern of deviation" is a standard of comparison; this may be the judgment of people outside those particular situations, or may be a set of independently verifiable...
which can affect the results of a statistical survey
Statistical survey
Survey methodology is the field that studies surveys, that is, the sample of individuals from a population with a view towards making statistical inferences about the population using the sample. Polls about public opinion, such as political beliefs, are reported in the news media in democracies....
if respondents answer questions in the way they think the questioner wants them to answer rather than according to their true belief
Belief
Belief is the psychological state in which an individual holds a proposition or premise to be true.-Belief, knowledge and epistemology:The terms belief and knowledge are used differently in philosophy....
s. 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
Domestic violence
Domestic violence, also known as domestic abuse, spousal abuse, battering, family violence, and intimate partner violence , is broadly defined as a pattern of abusive behaviors by one or both partners in an intimate relationship such as marriage, dating, family, or cohabitation...
, or someone who obviously cares about the environment
Natural environment
The natural environment encompasses all living and non-living things occurring naturally on Earth or some region thereof. It is an environment that encompasses the interaction of all living species....
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?" may yield a response bias, in comparison with simply "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.
Non-response bias
Non-response bias
Non-response bias occurs in statistical surveys if the answers of respondents differ from the potential answers of those who did not answer.- Example :...
is not the opposite of "response bias" and is not a type of cognitive bias: it occurs in a statistical survey
Statistical survey
Survey methodology is the field that studies surveys, that is, the sample of individuals from a population with a view towards making statistical inferences about the population using the sample. Polls about public opinion, such as political beliefs, are reported in the news media in democracies....
if those who respond to the survey differ in the outcome variable (for example, evaluation of the need for financial aid) from those who do not respond. Often, the differences, which may include race, gender or socioeconomic status, are reported and/or accounted for through statistical modelling in any publication of the results.
See also
- Total survey errorTotal survey errorIn survey sampling, total survey error includes all forms of survey error including sampling variability, interviewer effects, frame errors, response bias, and non-response bias.-External links:*...
- Acquiescence biasAcquiescence biasAcquiescence bias is a category of response bias in which respondents to a survey have a tendency to agree with all the questions or to indicate a positive connotation. Acquiescence is sometimes referred to as "yah-saying" and is the tendency of a respondent to agree with a statement when in doubt...
- Compound questionCompound questionA double-barreled question is an informal fallacy. It is committed when someone asks a question that touches upon more than one issue, yet allows only for one answer...
- Heckman correctionHeckman correctionThe Heckman correction is any of a number of related statistical methods developed by James Heckman in 1976 through 1979 which allow the researcher to correct for selection bias...
- Loaded question
- Misinformation effectMisinformation effectThe misinformation effect refers to the finding that exposure to misleading information presented between the encoding of an event and its subsequent recall causes impairment in memory. This effect occurs when participants' recall of an event they witnessed is altered by introducing misleading...
, similar effect for memory instead of opinion. - Opinion poll
- Social desirability biasSocial desirability biasSocial desirability bias is the tendency of respondents to answer questions in a manner that will be viewed favorably by others. It can take the form of over-reporting good behavior or under-reporting bad behavior. The tendency poses a serious problem with conducting research with self-reports,...