Studying End-User Downloading Of Indecent Scandal Pictures By The Randomized Response Technique

With rapid advances in technological development, sensitive behaviors in relation to the ethical use of information systems have attracted more and more public attention. The widespread adoption of highspeed networking technologies has facilitated the timely dissemination of information, but it also opens up more opportunities for the unauthorized sharing of private information. One example is the unauthorized downloading of indecent scandal pictures. This paper reports an exploratory study in this behavior. Although such behavior is sensitive and secretive in nature, we draw on the randomized response technique to ensure respondent confidentiality and minimize response distortion in selfreported behaviors. An on-line survey was conducted and the methods introduced by Kwan, So and Tam (2010) was adopted for multivariate data analysis using the randomized data. Our findings confirm the anticipated underreporting of the sensitive behavior in a direct-questioning context. Furthermore, non-trivial distortions in the influences of the factors leading to the downloading behavior are also unveiled when comparing findings from direct responses with those based on randomized responses.

[1]  J. Conley.  Asking questions: A practical guide to questionnaire design , 1983 .

[2]  R. MacCallum,et al.  Power analysis and determination of sample size for covariance structure modeling. , 1996 .

[3]  Jamshid C. Hosseini,et al.  Gathering Sensitive Data in Organizations , 1993 .

[4]  I. Ajzen.  The theory of planned behavior , 1991 .

[5]  Paul E. Tracy,et al.  Measuring associations with randomized response , 1984 .

[6]  S L Warner,et al.  Randomized response: a survey technique for eliminating evasive answer bias. , 1965, Journal of the American Statistical Association.

[7]  James R. Rest.  Development in Judging Moral Issues , 1979 .

[8]  N. J. Scheers,et al.  A review of randomized response techniques. , 1992 .

[9]  L. L. Thurstone,et al.  The Measurement of Attitudes. , 1950 .

[10]  M. Browne,et al.  Alternative Ways of Assessing Model Fit , 1992 .

[11]  L. Kohlberg.  The Philosophy of Moral Development Moral Stages and the Idea of Justice , 1981 .

[12]  Kar Yan Tam,et al.  Research Note - Applying the Randomized Response Technique to Elicit Truthful Responses to Sensitive Questions in IS Research: The Case of Software Piracy Behavior , 2010, Inf. Syst. Res..

[13]  Samuel Himmelfarb,et al.  Social desirability and the randomized response technique. , 1982 .

[14]  U. N. Umesh,et al.  Randomized Response: A Method for Sensitive Surveys , 1986 .

[15]  D. Horvitz,et al.  Application of the Randomized Response Technique in Obtaining Quantitative Data , 1971 .

[16]  P. Bentler,et al.  Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis : Conventional criteria versus new alternatives , 1999 .

[17]  L. Kohlberg,et al.  The psychology of moral development : the nature and validity of moral stages , 1984 .

[18]  Robert A. Peterson,et al.  A Critical Evaluation of the Randomized Response Method , 1991 .

[19]  W. R. Simmons,et al.  The Unrelated Question Randomized Response Model: Theoretical Framework , 1969 .

[20]  R. Mason.  Four ethical issues of the information age , 1986 .

[21]  L. Kohlberg,et al.  1. Stages of moral development as a basis for moral education , 1971 .

[22]  Detmar W. Straub,et al.  Structural Equation Modeling and Regression: Guidelines for Research Practice , 2000, Commun. Assoc. Inf. Syst..

[23]  D. Paulhus.  Measurement and control of response bias. , 1991 .