Independent Business analysis - TASK 2 Social Desirability - Essay Example

Independent Business analysis Contents Independent Business analysis Contents 2 Definition of Bias 3 Social desirability bias: Definition 3 Different Effects of bias on research 4 Possible ways to reduce social desirability bias 5 References 6 Bibliography 6 Definition of Bias Bias can be defined as the preconceived state of mind. Biasness is holding a partial point with reference to other objects, people and groups. Biasness generally does not hold a neutral point of view. Biasness, present in many forms, is often considered as the synonyms to prejudice (Kothari, 2007, p. 131). Social desirability bias: Definition Social desirability bias can be defined as the tendency people to provide answers to questions in a way that is going to favourable to others.

The respondents may show SDB by focusing too much on exhibiting good behaviour or hiding bad behaviour. Therefore SDB holds a serious threat to qualitative research work. Some specific domain of research in which the degree of existence of SDB is quite high are drug use, sexual behaviour, charity, behavioural research and personality. Existence of SDB makes it literally impossible for the researchers to get factual results. If a country like India is concerned non martial sex is believed to be a shameful act in the society.

Therefore the respondents may be prone to underreporting leading to social desirability bias (Bhattacharya, 2009, p. 201). Different Effects of bias on research Research is the most widely used method to study the human behaviour. Research is used in different fields of the management as well as for to the social behaviour. However, it has been seen that quite a few times the respondents tend to provide information in a less accurate fashion; many have said that it could an effect of poor memory on the parts of the respondents.

But, the experts feel that sometimes the respondents actually try to deceive the researchers’ deliberately. So, it is not new that the researchers have found out that the respondents have tried to enhance their image through over reporting. Sometimes the respondents can actually deliberately practice under reporting to hide some sensitive information. Such instances of under reporting are especially visible in case of questions related to age or salary. However, such under reporting or over reporting most surely infect the results of a research work.

Experts feel that behavioural qualitative researches usually have some drawbacks. One of the major drawbacks is that SDB research is very weakly conceptualized. To combat this there is certain social desirability scales. But due to the weak conceptualization the researchers find it difficult to use the scales in appropriate situations. Another major problem has been under reporting or over reporting by the respondents combines with the personality related differences. The tendency of people to indulge in SDB is a real course of concern for the researchers when it comes to measuring the individual differences through self-reports.

In some of the cases the entire questionnaire starting from high scoring respondents may be discarded. Answer of the respondents may be adjusted with the other SDR propensities. The major course of concern of the DSR scales is those scales bewilder with the content. At the end of the day people will differ as per the traits. AS a result social desirability gets confounded with the social desirability bias (Goswami, 2010, p. 225). Possible ways to reduce social desirability bias Before starting the actual survey pilot study should be conducted to analyze the way to conduct interviews on some of the most sensitive questions.

In the course of pilot study three things are needed to be focused upon: Identifying the set of sensitive questions; comparing the response rate of the respondent to the sensitive questions; and the analysis of the feasibility of the interview session. SBBM is believed to be very useful to reduce the social desirability bias. In case of SBBM, the researcher spells out the questions from the questionnaire. Instead of answering the question verbally the respondents use a secret method of voting.

It is quite similar to the ballot box. The ballot box contains ballot strips made of paper. Such strips are in reference with the questionnaire. The researcher spells the questions and the respondents make a circle through the slip. Once the session is over, the researcher mixes up all the responses. In this way the identity of the respondent is kept secret also (Rossiter, 2009, p. 120). The case of social desirability bias is most prominent in the cases of community research. During community research family members, peers, close friends are usually present.

As a result of this the respondent may experience a certain amount of discomfort. As a result the researcher has to use a modified version of SBBM, well known as MBBM. The main difference between SBBM and MBBM is unlike SBBM the questions are not spelled out by the researcher. The respondents get to know about the questions through a head set. Rest of the procedure is more or less similar to SBBM (Neuman, 2007, p. 134). References Rossiter, J. 2009. A Comparison of Social Desirability Bias Among Four Widely Used Methods of Data Collection as Measured by the Impression Management Subscale of the Balance Inventory of Desirable Responding.

Kent State University: UK. Neuman, L. 2007. Social Research Methods. Pearson Education: India. Kothari. C. 2007. Research Methodology. New International: India. Goswami, R. 2010. Organizational Behaviour. Matrix Educare: India. Bhattacharya, D. 2009. Human Resource Management. Excel Books: India. Bibliography Nargundkar, R. 2010. Marketing Research,Tata McGraw Hills Private Limited : India. Bachrach, A.1972. Psychological research: an introduction Random House studies in psychology. Random House: US. Giles, D. 2002.

Advanced Research Methods in Psychology. Rutledge: US. Haworth, J. 2002. Psychological Research: Innovative Methods and Strategies. Rutledge: US.