Which concept best explains the comparison made in the passage regarding Internet responses, face-to-face interviews, and telephone surveys (paragraph 2)? (sensitive topics like weight, internet responses may have advantages over face-to-face interviews or telephone surveys)
Final answer: Social Desirability
Social Desirability Bias
Social Desirability, a type of response bias where participants answer in a way they deem socially acceptable, best explains the comparison in the passage. This is usually prominent in face-to-face and telephone interviews due to direct contact with researchers, but is minimized in Internet responses due to anonymity. Therefore Option (c) is correct.
Explanation
The best concept to explain the comparison in the passage between Internet responses, face-to-face interviews, and telephone surveys in regard to sensitive topics like weight is Social Desirability. Social Desirability is a type of response bias that drives people to respond to questions in a manner that will be viewed favorably by others. They can often underreport unfavorable characteristics or behaviors and overreport more favorable ones. This occurs a lot during face-to-face interviews and telephone surveys as the participants are in direct contact with the researcher, making them feel pressured to answer the way they perceive the researcher wants them to answer. On the other hand, internet responses often allow for anonymous answers and can minimize social desirability bias, making it more suitable for topics that may be perceived as sensitive or private.