While we like to believe that data, numbers, statistical analysis, and math belong to a world of cold, hard, inarguable facts, the real truth is this: Sometimes, data lies.
Why? Because lurking under the surface of even the most carefully designed survey is an invisible force always working against the truth, undermining data quality, obfuscating reality, and giving market research professionals a major headache in the process.
This force is, of course, survey bias, and it presents a particularly destabilizing variable in the world of market research. After all, if we can’t trust the data, what value could market research possibly have?
Here’s the good news: With the right research methodologies and a good understanding of how survey bias operates, it is absolutely possible to successfully mitigate its effects.
Let’s take a closer look.
Survey bias refers to a phenomenon in which the outcome of a survey is skewed or distorted as a result of inaccurate, untruthful, or otherwise influenced participant responses or feedback. It is caused by various influencing factors that can impact the truthfulness or accuracy of participants’ answers, and thus negatively impact or otherwise distort the accuracy of research results.
There are many different forms of survey bias. Some originate within the participants themselves, often subconsciously – a product of natural human behavior in which participants may alter their responses to align with societal norms or present themselves more favorably. Other types of survey bias creep in as a result of poor survey design, such as the inclusion of leading questions that steer the participant towards one answer over another. No matter the bias, the consequence is always the same: Survey results that do not accurately represent reality.
There are many different types of survey bias. Let’s take a look at the three most common survey bias examples:
This type of survey bias involves participants answering questions in a way that they feel, consciously or subconsciously, is more socially or morally acceptable. In instances of social desirability bias, participants give answers that they believe will make them look better to others while withholding their true feelings, experiences, or preferences.
This type of survey bias is common in surveys dealing with more sensitive or highly personal topics. For example, a participant may underreport alcohol consumption, use of personal care/hygiene products, or how often they exercise or watch TV while overreporting other behaviors they consider more socially acceptable.
Courtesy bias occurs when a participant fails to fully state their level of unhappiness or dislike for a product or service as they feel that doing so would be perceived as rude or impolite. Courtesy bias can be more prevalent in cultures where courtesy is a fundamental aspect of social norms.
Courtesy bias is particularly prevalent when participants are asked to rate levels of service they’ve received at a restaurant, for example, as this feedback is likely to have a direct impact on actual people (the workers at that restaurant).
This form of survey bias takes the form of participants’ tendency to answer all questions in a survey positively, even if this poses a contradiction, in an unconscious effort to appear agreeable to the researcher.
An example of acquiescence survey bias would be if a participant answers “I agree” to both the statements “I prefer to spend time with others” and “I prefer to spend time alone”. These statements are contradictory, and one of these two answers must be incorrect.