Randomized response methods

Abstract

In survey research it is often problematic to ask people sensitive questions because they may refuse to answer or they may provide a socially desirable answer that does not reveal their true status on the sensitive question. To solve this problem Warner (1965) proposed randomized response (RR). Here a chance mechanism hides why respondents say “yes” or “no” to the question being asked. Thus far RR has been mainly used in research to estimate the prevalence of sensitive characteristics. RR can be used in, for example, self-report studies on criminal behavior (compare, e.g., the two meta-analyses in Lensvelt-Mulders et al.2005). In the Netherlands, much research has been funded by the Expert Centre for Law Enforcement of the Ministry of Justice in the area of regulatory noncompliance in areas as the taxi-driving law, under regulations for food retailers, the law of individual rent subsidy, and the law on agricultural chemicals.