Eric Kramon|Keith Weghorst
(Mis)Measuring Sensitive Attitudes with the List Experiment
George Washington University|Vanderbilt University
abstract list experiments les increasingly popular survey research tool measuring sensitive attitudes behaviors however evidence list experiments sometimes produce unreasonable estimates list experiments fail performance list experiment improved using evidence kenya hypothesize length complexity le format make costlier respondents complete thus prone comprehension reporting errors first show list experiments encounter difficulties simple nonsensitive lists food consumption daily activities 40 percent respondents provide inconsistent responses list experiment direct question formats errors concentrated among less numerate less educated respondents offering evidence errors driven complexity difficulty list experiments second examine list experiments measuring attitudes political violence standard list experiment reveals lower rates support political violence compared simply asking directly sensitive attitude interpret list experiment breakdown evaluate two modifications list experiment designed reduce complexity private tabulation cartoon visual aids modifications greatly enhance list experiment performance especially among respondent subgroups standard procedure problematic paper makes two key contributions 1 showing techniques list experiment promise reducing response bias introduce different forms error associated question complexity difficulty 2 demonstrating effectiveness easytoimplement solutions problem