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If survey respondents are hiding their true preferences about race from the interviewer, what is the survey suffering from?

a) Social desirability bias
b) Sampling bias
c) Response bias
d) Confirmation bias

1 Answer

7 votes

Final answer:

The survey is suffering from social desirability bias, where respondents hide their true preferences to seem unbiased, not to be confused with sampling or confirmation bias.

Step-by-step explanation:

If survey respondents hide their true preferences about race from the interviewer, the survey is suffering from social desirability bias. This type of response bias occurs when respondents give the answer they think they should give, rather than what they truly feel, often to be viewed favorably by others or to avoid negative judgment. A famous example is the 'Bradley effect', where polls overestimated the support for a minority candidate because participants did not want to appear biased. This is not to be confused with sampling bias or confirmation bias, which are different forms of bias in research. Sampling bias refers to errors due to an unrepresentative sample, while confirmation bias is when people seek out information that supports their pre-existing beliefs or opinions.

User Rob Howard
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