Measuring attitudes regarding female genital mutilation through a list experiment

Elisabetta De Cao and Clemens Lutz

No 2015-20, CSAE Working Paper Series from Centre for the Study of African Economies, University of Oxford

Abstract: Understanding the attitudes toward Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is crucial for policy, but challenging because it is a sensitive topic. This paper uses a list experiment to elicit truthful answers about FGM support in Ethiopia. A regression analysis is developed to analyze the data. To test the social desirability bias, list experiment results are compared with direct question results revealing that uneducated respondents underreport their support by 16% (p-value=0.013), while women treated by a NGO intervention by 12% (p-value=0.060). Potential bias in responses to direct questions should be considered when measuring sensitive outcomes, especially in the context of policy evaluations.

Keywords: Female genital mutilation; female circumcision; list experiment; sensitive survey questions; Ethiopia (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C13 C83 I15 O10 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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