No. 1041

Title:

Response Times in the Item Count Technique

Author(s):

Tsuchiya, Takahiro (The Institute of Statistical Mathematics);
Ono, Shigeru (Synovate, K.K.);
Hirai, Yoko (Tokyo Metropolitan University)

Key words:

Item count technique; direct questioning; response time; random-coefficient model.

Abstract:

    The item count technique is one of the indirect questioning techniques that are employed to estimate the proportion of people who engage in undesirable behavior. This paper compares the response times of the item count and direct questioning techniques. The analysis reveals that a longer time is required for respondents to get accustomed to the item count technique than to the ordinary direct questioning technique. In comparing the responses, the number of applicable items in the item count response is often lesser than that in direct response questioning. One hypothesis for this response effect is the influence of satisficing respondents. The response time analysis shows that respondents with a smaller number of applicable items have a shorter response time, which supports the satisficing hypothesis.