How we present ourselves to others reflects what we, as society, consider valuable or important. We want to be liked, accepted, or judged positively by others, a desire social psychologists have termed “social desirability”. To achieve “rewards” or avoid “punishments” we project a socially acceptable position, even if is not our real opinion. When it comes to measuring public opinion on social issues, the ways opinions are collected can enhance this desire and affect our understanding of true public opinion.
Pew Research Center, the leading organization in public opinion polling and research, recently did a study that showed how answers from telephone survey respondents significantly differed compared to Web respondents. Telephone respondents rated the quality of their family and social life higher, discrimination of particular social groups as more prevalent, and political figures more favorably. They cited the cause as social desirability – the presence of another human on the telephone, recording answers, influenced more positive judgments on socially relevant questions.
However, the big picture is that Pew has also identified and confirmed the values that currently hold social relevance. The larger the discrepancy between the opinions expressed in the presence or absence of another person indicates the social relevance of the issue. Here, Pew has identified that it is still very important to us to have a satisfying family and social life. Also noteworthy is valuing the rights of today’s discriminated groups, while reflecting a lesser bias in gender after years of women’s struggles. The data also confirms today’s political environment –between both groups, anywhere from 16 to 40 percent of respondents have a very unfavorable opinion of four recent or recently passed political figures.
So in addition to figuring out what the real public opinion is (positive or negative), the research is also a crosscheck on what public opinions are important (carry social weight or value). We say what we think other people want to hear on issues that we think we may disagree, offend, or look bad in comparison. The more we attempt to ‘correct’ our opinions to a majority, preferred, or accepted view, the more these subtle techniques highlight what really is important and how difficult it is to assess real public opinion.
Pew explains telephone surveys are a way to eliminate barriers to written and textual language. But in a world full of automated call menus, I wonder why this mode is not one of their basic options. Computer-simulated voices could speak recorded survey items and respondents could press or speak responses. As with most systems a help alert could added to alert a real human of problems. Although the academic theorists in computer-mediated communication may argue that social desirability is still present in these situations, the cost to implement and test this strategy may be worth it. Especially if it frees up researchers to do analyses and distribute reports to the thirsty public in this need-to-know culture.
Jackie Cameron 