Asking Sensitive Questions Using the Randomized Response Approach in Public Health Research: An Empirical Study on the Factors of Illegal Waste Disposal

Abstract

A survey study is a research method commonly used to quantify population characteristics in biostatistics and public health research, two fields that often involve sensitive questions. However, if answering sensitive questions could cause social undesirability, respondents may not provide honest responses to questions that are asked directly. To mitigate the response distortion arising from dishonest answers to sensitive questions, the randomized response technique (RRT) is a useful and effective statistical method. However, research has seldom addressed how to apply the RRT in public health research using an online survey with multiple sensitive questions. Thus, we help fill this research gap by employing an innovative unrelated question design method. To illustrate how the RRT can be implemented in a multivariate analysis setting, we conducted a survey study to examine the factors affecting the intention of illegal waste disposal. This study demonstrates an application of the RRT to investigate the factors affecting people’s intention of illegal waste disposal. The potential factors of the intention were adopted from the theory of planned behavior and the general deterrence theory, and a self-administered online questionnaire was employed to collect data. Using the RRT, a covariance matrix was extracted for examining the hypothesized model via structural equation modeling. The survey results show that people’s attitude toward the behavior and their perceived behavioral control significantly positively affect their intention. This paper is useful for showing researchers and policymakers how to conduct surveys in environmental or public health related research that involves multiple sensitive questions.

Learning from work-from-home issues during the COVID-19 pandemic: Balance speaks louder than words

“…To ensure full confidentiality of the participants’ responses, we made the survey anonymous, and applied the RRT for the sensitive questions about stress and non-work-related activities during working hours. We followed the guidance of Chong et al (2019) and Chu et al (2020) [ 18 , 21 ] by implementing the RRT and constructing a covariance matrix for the responses. For details of the RRT procedure and application of RRT, readers may refer to Chong et al (2019) and Chu et al (2020) [ 18 , 21 ].…”

“…We followed the guidance of Chong et al (2019) and Chu et al (2020) [ 18 , 21 ] by implementing the RRT and constructing a covariance matrix for the responses. For details of the RRT procedure and application of RRT, readers may refer to Chong et al (2019) and Chu et al (2020) [ 18 , 21 ].…”

Influence of Publicity and Education and Environmental Values on the Green Consumption Behavior of Urban Residents in Tibet

“…The theory of planned behavior (TPB) is one of the most influential behavioral theories and has been used in studies on green consumption behavior [27]. According to the theory, individual behaviors are thoughtful and planned, and various factors indirectly affect individual behavioral decisions through willingness.…”

An Empirical Study of Applying Statistical Disclosure Control Methods to Public Health Research

“…Data privacy is important and the disclosure of confidential information can harm respondents and possibly the public. In addition to protecting respondents’ privacy when sensitive questions are involved during data collection [25], it is important to protect the confidentiality of data when data analysis is conducted by third parties. Statistical disclosure control (SDC) is useful for providing a quantitative balance between data utility and disclosure risk.…”