Editing Response bias (section)

{{Short description|Type of bias}}{{Distinguish|sampling bias}}[[File:Example Likert Scale.svg|thumb|upright=1.5|alt=Example Likert Scale.| A survey using a [[Likert Scale|Likert]] style response set. This is one example of a type of survey that can be highly vulnerable to the effects of response bias.]]
'''Response bias''' is a general term for a wide range of tendencies for participants to respond inaccurately or falsely to questions. These biases are prevalent in research involving participant [[self-report study|self-report]], such as [[structured interview]]s or [[statistical survey|surveys]].<ref name="Furnham">{{cite journal|doi=10.1016/0191-8869(86)90014-0|title=Response bias, social desirability and dissimulation|journal=Personality and Individual Differences|volume=7|issue=3|pages=385–400|year=1986|last1=Furnham|first1=Adrian}}</ref> Response biases can have a large impact on the validity of [[questionnaire]]s or surveys.<ref name="Furnham"/><ref name="Nederhof">{{cite journal|doi=10.1002/ejsp.2420150303|title=Methods of coping with social desirability bias: A review|journal=European Journal of Social Psychology|volume=15|issue=3|pages=263–280|year=1985|last1=Nederhof|first1=Anton J.}}</ref>

Response bias can be induced or caused by numerous factors, all relating to the idea that human subjects do not respond passively to [[Stimulus (psychology)|stimuli]], but rather actively integrate multiple sources of information to generate a response in a given situation.<ref name="Orne 1962">{{cite journal|doi=10.1037/h0043424|title=On the social psychology of the psychological experiment: With particular reference to demand characteristics and their implications|journal=American Psychologist|volume=17|issue=11|pages=776–783|year=1962|last1=Orne|first1=Martin T.|s2cid=7975753}}</ref> Because of this, almost any aspect of an experimental condition may potentially bias a respondent. Examples include the phrasing of questions in surveys, the demeanor of the researcher, the way the experiment is conducted, or the desires of the participant to be a good experimental subject and to provide socially desirable responses may affect the response in some way.<ref name="Furnham"/><ref name="Nederhof"/><ref name="Orne 1962"/><ref name="Kalton">{{cite journal|last1=Kalton|first1=Graham|last2=Schuman|first2=Howard|title=The Effect of the Question on Survey Responses: A Review|journal=Journal of the Royal Statistical Society. Series A (General)|date=1982|volume=145|issue=1|pages=42–73|doi=10.2307/2981421|jstor=2981421|url=https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/146916/1/rssa04317.pdf|hdl=2027.42/146916|s2cid=151566559 |hdl-access=free}}</ref> All of these "artifacts" of survey and self-report research may have the potential to damage the [[construct validity|validity]] of a measure or study.<ref name="Nederhof"/> Compounding this issue is that surveys affected by response bias still often have high [[reliability (psychometrics)|reliability]], which can lure researchers into a false sense of security about the conclusions they draw.<ref name="Gove 1977">{{cite journal|jstor=2777936|pmid=889001|year=1977|last1=Gove|first1=W. R.|title=Response bias in surveys of mental health: An empirical investigation|journal=American Journal of Sociology|volume=82|issue=6|pages=1289–1317|last2=Geerken|first2=M. R.|doi=10.1086/226466|s2cid=40008515}}</ref>

Because of response bias, it is possible that some study results are due to a systematic response bias rather than the [[Hypothesis|hypothesized]] effect, which can have a profound effect on [[Psychology|psychological]] and other types of research using questionnaires or surveys.<ref name="Gove 1977"/> It is therefore important for researchers to be aware of response bias and the effect it can have on their research so that they can attempt to prevent it from impacting their findings in a negative manner.