Cognitive Processes during Indirect Questioning Techniques

• Applicants: Dr. Thomas Krause; Professorin Dr. Susanne Vogl
• Subject Area: Empirical Social Research
• Term: since 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 532766381

Although interviews are the most common data collection method in social sciences, there are still gaps in our methodological understanding. Surveys on sensitive or delicate topics are known to be particularly challenging. Sensitive questions refer to socially undesirable behavior or intimate aspects that respondents may not want to openly discuss. One strategy to measure sensitive characteristics with little or no distortion are so-called indirect questioning techniques (IQT). Honest answering behavior is intended to be guaranteed here through additional anonymity. Many studies have shown differences in prevalence rates between direct and indirect questioning techniques. However, current validation studies suggest that these higher prevalence rates are not necessarily more valid. In addition, there is evidence that IQTs are differently effective depending on the group of respondents. This raises the question of the appropriateness and measurement invariance of IQTs. This seems hardly surprising against the background that age differences in understanding the role of surveys, recruitment efforts, measurement equivalence, and validity as well as cognitive and communicative processes are known. To gain a profound understanding of the question-answer process in IQTs and to make informed statements about their functionality, it is essential to specifically and differentially consider the peculiarities of these techniques as well as the cognitive aspects of the question-answer process in relation to various respondent groups. Therefore, the aim of this project is to closely investigate and understand the question-answer process in answering IQTs through a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods (group discussions, cognitive interviews, eye tracking, physiological measurement, and standardized survey). In doing so, we contrast different groups of respondents in order to explore possible differences in the question-answer process and the interaction with the perception of sensitivity of questions. Overall, the project objectives can be summarized as follows: (1) Multimethod exploratory examination of the perception and cognitive processes in answering IQTs for problem identification; (2) Analysis of the functionality of IQTs based on diverse populations; (3) Verification of the identified problems for their transferability to natural interview situations. Through this project, we aim to gain a deeper understanding of the application and effectiveness of indirect questioning techniques and thus make a valuable contribution to improving the methodology and accuracy of data collections on sensitive topics in social science surveys.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants