ERIC Number: ED531729
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2011
Pages: 18
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Investigating Social Desirability Bias in Student Self-Report Surveys
Miller, Angie L.
Association for Institutional Research (NJ1), Paper presented at the Annual Forum of the Association for Institutional Research (51st, Toronto, Ontario, May 21-25, 2011)
The frequent use of self-report student surveys in higher education calls into question the possibility of social desirability having an unwanted influence on responses. This research explores the potential presence of social desirability bias with the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), a widely used assessment of student behaviors. Correlations between a short social desirability scale and NSSE benchmarks, subscales, and selected items suggest that the majority of scores have no significant relationship with a measure of social desirability. Effect sizes and estimates of explained variance are also discussed. (Contains 2 tables.)
Descriptors: Social Desirability, Bias, College Students, Student Surveys, Measurement Techniques, Student Behavior, National Surveys, Regression (Statistics), Correlation, Effect Size, Computation, Scores
Association for Institutional Research. 1435 East Piedmont Drive Suite 211, Tallahassee, FL 32308. Tel: 850-385-4155; Fax: 850-383-5180; e-mail: air@airweb.org; Web site: http://www.airweb.org
Publication Type: Reports - Research; Speeches/Meeting Papers
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: Association for Institutional Research
Identifiers - Assessments and Surveys: National Survey of Student Engagement
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A


