Let’s Talk about Sex, Maybe: Interviewers, Respondents, and Sexual Behavior Reporting in Rural South Africa

Brian Houle; Nicole Angotti; Samuel J. Clark; Jill Williams; F. Xavier Gómez-Olivé; Jane Menken; Chodziwadziwa Kabudula; Kerstin Klipstein-Grobusch; Stephen M. Tollman

doi:10.1177/1525822X15595343

Let’s Talk about Sex, Maybe: Interviewers, Respondents, and Sexual Behavior Reporting in Rural South Africa

Brian Houle^*, Nicole Angotti, Samuel J. Clark, Jill Williams, F. Xavier Gómez-Olivé, Jane Menken, Chodziwadziwa Kabudula, Kerstin Klipstein-Grobusch, Stephen M. Tollman

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

23 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

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.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	112-132
Number of pages	21
Journal	Field Methods
Volume	28
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/1525822X15595343
Publication status	Published - 2016

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title = "Let{\textquoteright}s Talk about Sex, Maybe: Interviewers, Respondents, and Sexual Behavior Reporting in Rural South Africa",

abstract = "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.",

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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.

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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.

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Let’s Talk about Sex, Maybe: Interviewers, Respondents, and Sexual Behavior Reporting in Rural South Africa

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