Stat472 Survey Design The Ethical Survey The Ethical

Stat-472 Survey Design The Ethical Survey

The Ethical Survey Key issues n n n Privacy Voluntary participation Pseudosurveys “suppression polls” “push polls” n Misuse of surveys

Privacy A major ethical issue in survey research is the invasion of privacy. ü Survey researchers can intrude into a respondent's privacy by asking about intimate actions and personal beliefs. ü People have a right to privacy. ü Respondents decide when and to whom to reveal personal information.

üThey are likely to provide such information when: it is asked for in a comfortable context with mutual trust, and serious answers are needed for legitimate research purposes and the answers will remain confidential. üResearchers should treat all respondents with dignity and reduce anxiety or discomfort. üThey are also responsible for protecting the confidentiality of data.

Voluntary participation Respondents agree to answer questions and can refuse to participate at any time. They give "informed consent" to participate in research. Researchers depend on respondents' voluntary cooperation, so researchers need to ask welldeveloped questions in a sensitive way, treat respondents with respect, and be very sensitive to confidentiality.

Pseudosurveys A third ethical issue is the exploitation of surveys and pseudosurveys A pseudosurvey is when someone who has little or no real interest in learning information from a respondent uses the survey in an attempt to Persuade someone to do something Example: in 1994 U. S. election campaign an unknown survey organization telephoned potential voters and asked whether the voter supported a given candidate. If the voter supported the candidate, the interviewer asked whether the Rs would still supported the candidate if he or she knew that the

candidate had an unfavorable characteristic (e. g. had been arrested for drunk driving, used illegal drugs, raised the wages of convicted criminals in prison). The goal of the interview was not to measure candidate support; rather, it was to identify a candidate's supporters then attempt to sway them by giving negative information.

Misuse of surveys When people misuse survey results or use poorly designed or purposely rigged survey People may demand answers from surveys that surveys cannot provide and not understand a survey's limitations. Those who design and prepare surveys may lack sufficient training to conduct a legitimate survey

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