The Poisson Extension of the Unrelated Question Model: Improving Surveys With Time-Constrained Questions on Sensitive Topics

The Poisson model (Iberl & Ulrich, in print) is a new survey technique that enables the estimation of how frequently a certain behavior occurs, while employing easy-to-answer yes/no-questions that refer to a specific time frame. In this paper, this model is combined with the unrelated question...

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Main Authors: Benedikt Iberl, Anesa Aljovic, Rolf Ulrich, Fabiola Reiber
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: European Survey Research Association 2024-04-01
Series:Survey Research Methods
Subjects:
Online Access:https://ojs.ub.uni-konstanz.de/srm/article/view/8252
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author Benedikt Iberl
Anesa Aljovic
Rolf Ulrich
Fabiola Reiber
author_facet Benedikt Iberl
Anesa Aljovic
Rolf Ulrich
Fabiola Reiber
author_sort Benedikt Iberl
collection DOAJ
description The Poisson model (Iberl & Ulrich, in print) is a new survey technique that enables the estimation of how frequently a certain behavior occurs, while employing easy-to-answer yes/no-questions that refer to a specific time frame. In this paper, this model is combined with the unrelated question model (UQM) by Greenberg et al. (1969). The UQM is another survey technique which guarantees complete and objective anonymity to participants in order to achieve more valid survey results when asking sensitive questions (e.g., about drug use). The resulting Poisson extension of the UQM (UQMP) is expected to yield valid estimations for how many participants engage in a researched sensitive behavior, and how regularly they do so. The performance of the UQMP was compared to the performance of the standard Poisson model, employing direct questions, in a survey on drinking and driving. While prevalence estimates differ greatly between the UQMP and the standard Poisson model, the results of both models indicate a high rate of drinking and driving among those German traffic participants who generally engage in this behavior. The difference between prevalence estimates might be explainable by problems of the UQMs’ validity; we discuss possible causes for these problems, and why the UQMP or similar approaches can be valuable nonetheless.
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spelling doaj.art-f927481d74894b83abc09bac636554b52024-04-23T13:35:59ZengEuropean Survey Research AssociationSurvey Research Methods1864-33612024-04-01181The Poisson Extension of the Unrelated Question Model: Improving Surveys With Time-Constrained Questions on Sensitive TopicsBenedikt Iberl0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4463-7009Anesa Aljovichttps://orcid.org/0009-0001-1401-576XRolf Ulrich1https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8443-2705Fabiola Reiber2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5654-4985Eberhard Karls Universität TübingenEberhard Karls Universität TübingenUniversität Mannheim The Poisson model (Iberl & Ulrich, in print) is a new survey technique that enables the estimation of how frequently a certain behavior occurs, while employing easy-to-answer yes/no-questions that refer to a specific time frame. In this paper, this model is combined with the unrelated question model (UQM) by Greenberg et al. (1969). The UQM is another survey technique which guarantees complete and objective anonymity to participants in order to achieve more valid survey results when asking sensitive questions (e.g., about drug use). The resulting Poisson extension of the UQM (UQMP) is expected to yield valid estimations for how many participants engage in a researched sensitive behavior, and how regularly they do so. The performance of the UQMP was compared to the performance of the standard Poisson model, employing direct questions, in a survey on drinking and driving. While prevalence estimates differ greatly between the UQMP and the standard Poisson model, the results of both models indicate a high rate of drinking and driving among those German traffic participants who generally engage in this behavior. The difference between prevalence estimates might be explainable by problems of the UQMs’ validity; we discuss possible causes for these problems, and why the UQMP or similar approaches can be valuable nonetheless. https://ojs.ub.uni-konstanz.de/srm/article/view/8252Randomized Response TechniqueUnrelated Question Modelsurvey researchtime-constrained questionsprevalence curvePoisson process
spellingShingle Benedikt Iberl
Anesa Aljovic
Rolf Ulrich
Fabiola Reiber
The Poisson Extension of the Unrelated Question Model: Improving Surveys With Time-Constrained Questions on Sensitive Topics
Survey Research Methods
Randomized Response Technique
Unrelated Question Model
survey research
time-constrained questions
prevalence curve
Poisson process
title The Poisson Extension of the Unrelated Question Model: Improving Surveys With Time-Constrained Questions on Sensitive Topics
title_full The Poisson Extension of the Unrelated Question Model: Improving Surveys With Time-Constrained Questions on Sensitive Topics
title_fullStr The Poisson Extension of the Unrelated Question Model: Improving Surveys With Time-Constrained Questions on Sensitive Topics
title_full_unstemmed The Poisson Extension of the Unrelated Question Model: Improving Surveys With Time-Constrained Questions on Sensitive Topics
title_short The Poisson Extension of the Unrelated Question Model: Improving Surveys With Time-Constrained Questions on Sensitive Topics
title_sort poisson extension of the unrelated question model improving surveys with time constrained questions on sensitive topics
topic Randomized Response Technique
Unrelated Question Model
survey research
time-constrained questions
prevalence curve
Poisson process
url https://ojs.ub.uni-konstanz.de/srm/article/view/8252
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