title: Taking the threat out of threatening questions.
abstract: A major threat to the validity and reliability of health and social surveys is that questions asked are regarded as threatening. This leads to the unpredictability of social desirability bias, which can skew responses in a variety of directions. The types of situations in which this may occur are outlined, together with a ten point approach that will assist in overcoming the problems.
authors.affiliation: Southampton Business School.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Vinten
mesh_terms: D015982:Bias; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D012650:Self Disclosure; D012928:Social Desirability; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires