2006-12-09 03:57:04 · 5 answers · asked by spicypam1 1 in Social Science ➔ Psychology
The only way one can expect to get honest responses from ANY demographic group when the questions concern personal matters is to conduct the survey where the answers are anonymous. Thus, the teens can answer with the promise of confidentiality.
Also, you must insure that you get a good "cross-section" of respondents, i.e all ages (13-19) and also as wide of a socio-economic background as you can.
2006-12-09 04:04:06 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
People lie. That's a basic fact of human interaction. But people are less likely to lie in certain situation. Sexual behavior is often very private and people may feel shame and regret about it. To minimize shame and regret, isolate the person. The less people that are watching and judging them, the less likely they are to have reason to lie. For that purpose, a private survey or one on one interview, depending on which type of data you want, might make the teens open up. Also, people are more likely to open up if they see the self-disclosure as inconsequential. Try to communicate that spilling their guts will not come back to bite them in the ***. It would also help if you are close to their age group and appear to share their culture (talk, dress and behave like them). People are more likely to open up to someone similar to them because their is greater likelihood of understanding and empathy. So you could talk about your own experiences a little to seem like one of them.
2006-12-09 13:10:11 · answer #2 · answered by Subconsciousless 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i agree with the anonymous answer. i will say i don't think you are asking this to do a college project however, and i hope you get a slightly better answer than a cross sectional research project. however there may me some serious merit to the research approach, if you could get the aid of the teen's peers then you might be able to fool them in to helping you by asking them once you have gained the trust from them, it is sometimes easier to get information vicariously.
2006-12-09 12:43:11 · answer #3 · answered by Joe S 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I assume that you are doing this for research. I would go with a survey or open ended questionairres.
2006-12-09 12:02:00 · answer #4 · answered by Deirdre O 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
say they're not in trouble? I don't fully understand the question...
2006-12-09 12:02:13 · answer #5 · answered by Cory W 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋