No. 1033

Title:

Effects of Anonymity on RDD Survey Responses

Author(s):

Tsuchiya, Takahiro (The Institute of Statistical Mathematics)

Key words:

Survey on Japanese national character; completion rate.

Abstract:

    This paper presents comparative random digit dialing (RDD) telephone surveys in an attempt to investigate the effects of anonymity on survey responses. The interviewers involved in RDD surveys do not have any prior information about respondents. Hence, the comparative surveys involved two conditions: in the first condition, the interviewer informed the respondents about and emphasized the anonymous nature of the RDD survey; in the other condition, this nature of the RDD survey was not emphasized. Of the two comparative surveys, one was conducted nationwide and the other was limited to Aichi prefecture. No significant differences in the completion rates and demographic characteristics were found between the two conditions of the two surveys.