title: An analysis of experimenter effects on responses to a sex questionnaire.
abstract: To test whether responses to sex questionnaires vary as a function of the milieu in which the questionnaires are administered, university and college students were presented with an explicit sex questionnaire by a psychologist or by a member of the clergy. In the first study conducted at a nondenominational university, students generally responded similarly when tested by a psychologist, a rabbi, or a priest. There was some evidence suggesting that a greater number of students tested by members of the clergy, rather than by the psychologist, omitted responses to sensitive questions. In a second study conducted at a Catholic college, responses generally were similar when comparing a priest and a psychologist as testers. On one sensitive item, however, there was evidence of an experimenter effect in the predicted direction. Under testing situations common to a number of studies, responses to sex questionnaires seem relatively unaffected by experimenter effects.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Ohio State University, Columbus 43210.
authors.forename: G A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Winer
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Makowski
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Alpert
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Collins
mesh_terms: D002977:Clergy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011584:Psychology; D012071:Religion and Sex; D012725:Sexual Behavior; D012747:Sexual Partners; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires