How Interviewers Affect Responses to Sensitive Questions on the Justification for Wife Beating, the Refusal to have Conjugal Sex, and Domestic Violence in India

Despite a general understanding that interviewers might cause measurement errors on sensitive questions in sample surveys, there is relatively little research on interviewer effects on responses to questions on women justifying a woman's refusal to have sex with her husband, women justifying wife beating, women's experience of physical and sexual violence, and whether the woman's father ever beat her mother. This study examines interviewer effects on these indicators that were collected in two large-scale National Family Health Surveys (NFHS) in India (2005-2006 and 2015-2016). We use cross-classified random intercept multivariable multilevel logit models to examine interviewer effects. In both surveys, we find large interviewer effects on questions about the justification of a woman refusing to have sex with her husband (32-33% in NFHS-3 and 45-46% in NFHS-4) and the justification of wife beating (27-28% in NFHS-3 and 33-34% in NFHS-4). The interviewer effects were much larger in the 2015-2016 survey than in the 2005-2006 survey. Such large interviewer effects should be considered when interpreting trends and patterns on these topics, especially since the interviewer effects might have changed between survey rounds. Understanding interviewer effects is important given the wide use of these surveys in policy formulation and monitoring in India.

Effects of Interviewer Characteristics on Reported Sexual Behavior of California Latino Couples

Effects of interviewer gender and age on disclosure of sexual behavior by 573 California Latino men and their female partners were analyzed,adjusting for interviewee clustering within interviewer. Larger standard errors in adjusted than in naive/unadjusted regression models demonstrated the existence of interviewer effects on responding,but these were only attributable to interviewer gender or age for a small number of specific topics. Men interviewed by women reported fewer sexual partners and were less likely to report sex with strangers than men interviewed by men; they were more likely to report sex with prostitutes or other men to older than to younger interviewers. Women were less likely to report oral sex to older interviewers. Sexual behavior surveys should evaluate and, where detected, adjust for fixed interviewer effects and should routinely report interviewer numbers, panel sizes, and other characteristics.

Let's Talk about Sex, Maybe: Interviewers, Respondents, and Sexual Behavior Reporting in Rural South Africa

Researchers are often skeptical of sexual behavior surveys: respondents may lie or forget details of their intimate lives, and interviewers may exercise authority in how they capture responses. We use data from a 2010-2011 cross-sectional sexual behavior survey in rural South Africa to explore who says what to whom about their sexual lives. Results show an effect of fieldworker age across outcomes -- respondents report "safer", more "responsible" sexual behavior to older fieldworkers; and an effect of fieldworker sex -- men report more sexual partners to female fieldworkers. Understanding fieldworker effects on the production of sexual behavior survey data serves methodological and analytical goals.

Interviewer effects in public health surveys

Interviewer effects can have a substantial impact on survey data and may be particularly operant in public health surveys, where respondents are likely to be queried about racial attitudes, sensitive behaviors and other topics prone to socially desirable responding. This paper defines interviewer effects, argues for the importance of measuring and controlling for interviewer effects in health surveys, provides advice about how to interpret research on interviewer effects and summarizes research to date on race, ethnicity and gender effects. Interviewer effects appear to be most likely to occur when survey items query attitudes about sociodemographic characteristics or respondents' engagement in sensitive behaviors such as substance use. However, there is surprisingly little evidence to indicate whether sociodemographic interviewer-respondent matching improves survey response rates or data validity, and the use of a matched design introduces possible measurement bias across studies. Additional research is needed to elucidate many issues, including the influence of interviewers' sociodemographic characteristics on health-related topics, the role of within-group interviewer variability on survey data and the simultaneous impact of multiple interviewer characteristics. The findings of such research would provide much-needed guidance to public health professionals on whether or not to match interviewers and respondents on key sociodemographic characteristics.

Sexual experiences and condom use of heterosexual, low-income African American and Hispanic youth practicing relative monogamy, serial monogamy, and nonmonogamy

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

To describe (a) demographic characteristics, (b) sexual history, (c) perceived HIV susceptibility, and (d) current sexual behavior, condom use, and alcohol and marijuana use of heterosexual, low-income African American and Hispanic youth categorized as relatively monogamous (n = 577), serial monogamous (n = 171), or nonmonogamous (n = 278).

STUDY DESIGN

Data were drawn from personal interviews with a probability sample of low-income youth, age 15 to 24 years, conducted in Detroit in 1991.

RESULTS

Many group differences were found. For example, relatively monogamous youth were most likely to be female and Hispanic and to have engaged in unprotected intercourse. Serial monogamous youth were younger and most likely to have used condoms at last intercourse. Nonmonogamous youth initiated intercourse earlier and were most likely to have experienced oral and anal intercourse and to have used alcohol and marijuana.

CONCLUSION

Risk reduction programs may need to be tailored differently to accommodate the needs of these three distinct subgroups of youth.