Do people lie to pollsters?
We know that not all survey questions are answered accurately but it’s impossible to say that any given inaccurate answer necessarily involves lying. People may simply not remember their behavior accurately. More people say they voted in a given election than voting records indicate actually cast ballots. In some instances, researchers have actually verified the voting records of people who were interviewed and found that some of them said they voted but did not. Voting is generally considered a socially desirable behavior, just like attending church or donating money to charity. Studies suggest these kinds of behaviors are overreported. Similarly, socially undesirable behaviors such as illegal drug use, certain kinds of sexual behavior or driving while intoxicated are underreported. We take steps to minimize errors related to questions about socially desirable or undesirable activities. For example, questions about voter registration and voting usually include acknowledgements that no
We know that not all survey questions are answered accurately but it’s impossible to say that any given inaccurate answer necessarily involves lying. People may simply not remember their behavior accurately. More people say they voted in a given election than voting records indicate actually cast ballots. In some instances, researchers have actually verified the voting records of people who were interviewed and found that some of them said they voted but did not. Voting is generally considered a socially desirable behavior, just like attending church or donating money to charity. Studies suggest these kinds of behaviors are overreported. Similarly, socially undesirable behaviors such as illegal drug use, certain kinds of sexual behavior or driving while intoxicated are underreported. We take steps to minimize errors related to questions about socially desirable or undesirable activities. For example, questions about voter registration and voting usually include acknowledgements that no
