TY - JOUR
T1 - Let's Talk about Sex, Maybe
T2 - Interviewers, Respondents, and Sexual Behavior Reporting in Rural South Africa
AU - Houle, Brian
AU - Angotti, Nicole
AU - Clark, Samuel J
AU - Williams, Jill
AU - Gómez-Olivé, F Xavier
AU - Menken, Jane
AU - Kabudula, Chodziwadziwa
AU - Klipstein-Grobusch, Kerstin
AU - Tollman, Stephen M
PY - 2016
Y1 - 2016
N2 - Researchers are often skeptical of sexual behavior surveys: respondents may lie or forget details of their intimate lives, and interviewers may exercise authority in how they capture responses. We use data from a 2010-2011 cross-sectional sexual behavior survey in rural South Africa to explore who says what to whom about their sexual lives. Results show an effect of fieldworker age across outcomes -- respondents report "safer", more "responsible" sexual behavior to older fieldworkers; and an effect of fieldworker sex -- men report more sexual partners to female fieldworkers. Understanding fieldworker effects on the production of sexual behavior survey data serves methodological and analytical goals.
AB - Researchers are often skeptical of sexual behavior surveys: respondents may lie or forget details of their intimate lives, and interviewers may exercise authority in how they capture responses. We use data from a 2010-2011 cross-sectional sexual behavior survey in rural South Africa to explore who says what to whom about their sexual lives. Results show an effect of fieldworker age across outcomes -- respondents report "safer", more "responsible" sexual behavior to older fieldworkers; and an effect of fieldworker sex -- men report more sexual partners to female fieldworkers. Understanding fieldworker effects on the production of sexual behavior survey data serves methodological and analytical goals.
KW - Africa; interviewer effects; sexual behavior; social desirability; surveys
U2 - 10.1177/1525822X15595343
DO - 10.1177/1525822X15595343
M3 - Article
C2 - 28190977
SN - 1525-822X
VL - 28
SP - 112
EP - 132
JO - Field Methods
JF - Field Methods
IS - 2
ER -