Design and Analysis of the Randomized Response Technique

Abstract

About a half century ago, in 1965, Warner proposed the randomized response method as a survey technique to reduce potential bias due to nonresponse and social desirability when asking questions about sensitive behaviors and beliefs. This method asks respondents to use a randomization device, such as a coin flip, whose outcome is unobserved by the interviewer. By introducing random noise, the method conceals individual responses and protects respondent privacy. While numerous methodological advances have been made, we find surprisingly few applications of this promising survey technique. In this article, we address this gap by (1) reviewing standard designs available to applied researchers, (2) developing various multivariate regression techniques for substantive analyses, (3) proposing power analyses to help improve research designs, (4) presenting new robust designs that are based on less stringent assumptions than those of the standard designs, and (5) making all described methods available through open-source software. We illustrate some of these methods with an original survey about militant groups in Nigeria.

• Power analysis
• Randomization
• Sensitive questions
• Social desirability bias.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Graeme Blair

Graeme Blair is Pre-Doctoral Fellow, Evidence in Governance and Politics, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027 (E-mail: [email protected]).Kosuke Imai (E-mail: [email protected]) is Professor and Yang-Yang Zhou (E-mail: [email protected]) is Ph.D. student, Department of Politics, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544. The survey research was approved by the Princeton University Institutional Review Board under Protocol #5358 and was supported by the International Growth Centre (RA.2010.12.013; Blair and Imai). Zhou acknowledges support from the National Science Foundation (SES.1148900).

Kosuke Imai

Graeme Blair is Pre-Doctoral Fellow, Evidence in Governance and Politics, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027 (E-mail: [email protected]).Kosuke Imai (E-mail: [email protected]) is Professor and Yang-Yang Zhou (E-mail: [email protected]) is Ph.D. student, Department of Politics, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544. The survey research was approved by the Princeton University Institutional Review Board under Protocol #5358 and was supported by the International Growth Centre (RA.2010.12.013; Blair and Imai). Zhou acknowledges support from the National Science Foundation (SES.1148900).

Yang-Yang Zhou

Graeme Blair is Pre-Doctoral Fellow, Evidence in Governance and Politics, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027 (E-mail: [email protected]).Kosuke Imai (E-mail: [email protected]) is Professor and Yang-Yang Zhou (E-mail: [email protected]) is Ph.D. student, Department of Politics, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544. The survey research was approved by the Princeton University Institutional Review Board under Protocol #5358 and was supported by the International Growth Centre (RA.2010.12.013; Blair and Imai). Zhou acknowledges support from the National Science Foundation (SES.1148900).