Gender Differences in Self Reports on Sensitive Behaviors

使用调查数据的模型通常假设受访者准确地报告了他们的行为。然而，事实上，由于调查数据收集过程中的偏差和不准确，这些模型可能存在缺陷。自我报告的错误来源很多，反映了个别受访者的特点和调查工具的性质及其管理方式的结合。这项研究的重点是在几个主题上的自我报告的性别差异，包括主要强调的性行为，非法药物使用和堕胎。它将与研究人员的国家卫生统计中心题为“促进健康和预防疾病的认知研究”的项目一起进行。美国和其他国家的许多调查都显示，男性报告的性伴侣比女性多。即使将同性恋伴侣排除在外，并对极端值、项目无反应、人口规模和相关事项进行调整，这种差异仍然存在。随着问题涵盖的时间范围变得更长，差异变得更大。对这种差异最合理的解释是，两性在回答错误的方向和/或程度上存在差异--要么是男性报告过多，要么是女性报告不足，或者两者兼而有之。将开展一系列相关研究，以检验性伴侣报告以及其他性行为、药物使用和堕胎报告中的性别差异。它们包括1)探索性术语的理解和讨论性问题意愿的认知访谈，2)虚假的管道实验，以测试假设的自我报告的有效性是否会改变男性和女性的报告，3)调查实验，以测试回应格式、回忆线索和面试人员的差异，4)第二次调查实验，以测试管理模式、面试地点、问卷背景和问题措辞的差异；5)第三次调查实验，以测试匿名性与保密性。这些研究应该确定导致误报有关性伴侣、堕胎和药物使用的敏感行为的因素；有助于设计最佳测量策略；并改进对这些敏感行为真实发生率水平的估计。至关重要的是，必须开展这类工作，特别是考虑到艾滋病流行病及其可能适用的范围所引起的问题。

Models using survey data typically assume that respondents report their behavior accurately. In fact, however, these models may be flawed due to bias and imprecision in the survey data collection process. The sources of error of self-reports are numerous, reflecting a combination of the characteristrics of individual respondents and the nature of the survey instrument and the way it is administered. This research focuses on gender differences in self-reporting on several topics, including sexual behavior, where primary emphasis is put, illicit drug use and abortion. It will be carried out in conjunction with the investigators' National Center for Health Statistics project entitled, "Cognitive Research on Health Promotion and Disease Prevention". Numerous surveys, both in the United States and in other countries, have shown that men report more sex partners than women do. This difference persists even when homosexual partners are excluded and when adjustments are made for extreme values, item non-response, population size, and related matters. The differences become larger as the time frame covered by the questions grow longer. The most plausible explanation for the difference is that the two genders differ in the direction and/or magnitude of their response errors -- either the men are overreporting, the women underreporting, or both. A series of related studies will be carried out to examine these gender differences in the reports of sexual partners as well as reports on other sexual behaviors, drug use, and abortions. They consist of 1) cognitive interviews exploring the understanding of sexual terms and willingness to discuss sexual matters, 2) a bogus pipeline experiment to test whether assumed validation of self-reports will change the reports of men and women, 3) a survey experiment to test differences in response format, recall cues, and interviewing staff, 4) a second survey experiment to test differences in mode of administration, place of interview, questionaire context, and question wording, and 5) a third survey experiment to test anonymity vs. confidentiality. These studies should identify the factors that lead to misreports of sensitive behaviors about sexual partners, abortions, and drug use; contribute to the design of an optimal measurement strategy; and provide improved estimates of the true incidence levels of these sensitive behaviors. It is crucial that work of this sort be conducted, particularly in view of questions raised by the AIDS epidemic and the potential extent of its applications.