Sensitive Survey Questions: Measuring Attitudes Regarding Female Genital Cutting Through a List Experiment. (11th January 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: De Cao, Elisabetta; Lutz, Clemens
• Is Part Of: Oxford bulletin of economics and statistics. Volume 80:Number 5(2018)
• Page Start: 871
• Page End: 892
• Publication Date: 2018-01-11
• Subjects: Economic history -- Periodicals; Great Britain -- Economic conditions -- Periodicals; 330.9
• DOI: 10.1111/obes.12228
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0305-9049

Abstract

Abstract: Potential bias in survey responses is higher if sensitive outcomes are measured. This study analyses attitudes towards female genital cutting (FGC) in Ethiopia. A list experiment is designed to elicit truthful answers about FGC support and compares these outcomes with the answers given to a direct question. Our results confirm that the average bias is substantial as answers to direct questions underestimate the FGC support by about 10 percentage points. Moreover, our results provide suggestive but not statistically significant evidence that this bias is more pronounced among uneducated women and women targeted by an NGO intervention (not randomly assigned).