The problem of non-responses in opinion polls on the topic of corruption

Abstract

Background. The phenomenon of difficulty answering in quantitative research is becoming a mass phenomenon, which significantly reduces the objectivity of the results obtained. As part of the study of taboo subjects, the relevance of the problem increases. The purpose of the study is to assess the importance of the factors determining the proportion of non-responses (the proportion of respondents who find it difficult to answer) in anticorruption studies. Materials and methods. The research was based on data from anticorruption studies of the State Institution of the Republic of Mordovia “Scientific Center for Socio-Economic Monitoring” (Republic of Mordovia) (2020–2022, n = 400) and the results of a targeted survey on ranking factors affecting the proportion of non-responses (2023, n = 30). Results. The study revealed the following results. Firstly, the proportion of non-responses in research with sensitive topics shows an increasing trend. Secondly, the phenomenon of non-responses is to a certain extent determined by the socio-demographic characteristics of the respondents: place of residence, age, and the fact of participation in corrupt transactions. Thirdly, the proportion of non-responses depends more on the competence of the respondents, and less on the sensitivity and accessibility of the questions. Fourth, respondents have the greatest difficulty assessing the corruption of the army, government and law enforcement agencies, and the least difficulty assessing general processes and phenomena. Conclusions. The results of the study suggest that it is necessary to improve the methodology of quantitative surveys on corruption topics. The need for further study of the phenomenon of non-responses, which represent a significant amount of information about the behavior of respondents, is being actualized.

Keywords

• those who found it difficult to answer
• questionnaire survey
• corruption
• bribery
• sensitized research