PaCo - Mechanisms of panel conditioning in longitudinal surveys: Questions on social desirability, gender roles, and environment (English Version)

How often have you viewed pornographic content in the last 14 days?

[Wie häufig haben Sie sich in den letzten 14 Tagen pornografische Inhalte angesehen?]

1 Never [Nie]
2
3
4
5
6
7 Vey often [Sehr oft]
Don't know [Weiß nicht]
I do not want to answer this [Ich möchte dies nicht beantworten]

Question: No changes recommended.
Response format: No changes recommended.

Cognitive Techniques:

Comprehension Probe, Specific Probe

Eight out of ten test persons placed themselves on scale point 1, i.e., they stated that they had never viewed pornographic content in the last 14 days. One test person (TP 06) placed himself on scale point 2 ("rarely") and another (TP 01) answered "very often".

Two test persons (TP 09, 10) spontaneously commented on the questions that they could not com-pletely avoid pornographic content, but that they did not consume it intentionally:

• "So, sometimes you do see something like that, but I never do it.” (TP 09)
• "After all, that can't be completely avoided. [...] When I'm in my e-mail program, I can't avoid seeing things like that. Even though I don't want to. So I never want to see it actually.” (TP 10)

What do the test persons understand by "pornographic content"?

The majority of the test persons (n = 9) referred exclusively to pornographic content on the Inter-net in their answer. There may have been a sequence effect here, i.e., the previous question 10, which dealt with Internet use for obtaining political information, radiated to question 11. On the other hand, pornographic content is predominantly consumed on the Internet. Whether this was a sequence effect or a valid response behavior could not be determined on the basis of the cogni-tive interviews.

Only test person 04 stated that, in addition to Internet content, she had also thought of print media and videocassettes/DVDs: “There are also magazines, at newsstands and elsewhere. Due to that, you can buy movies and porn magazines. That's exactly what I was thinking of now.”

By "pornographic content" most test persons understood the exposure and presentation of men and women as well as depictions of sexual acts:

• "I say, everything that serves in any way for personal amusement, where people, I say now, expose themselves, present themselves in any way.” (TP 01)
• "Pictures and videos of naked people.” (TP 05)
• "Pornographic content is - how should I explain this now - depictions of sexual acts.” (TP 06)
• "Yes, well, probably these pornographic sites that you can just call up. [...] There are due to such sites, YouPorn I once read.” (TP 07)
• "As I said, if I get any content sent over the Internet, in which I am asked to lure me with explicit photos or even animated films, to any pornographic sites.” (TP 10)

How sensitive do the test persons perceive the question to be?

The test persons were asked to indicate on a seven-point scale how uncomfortable they found being asked the question (see Table N2_F11). Six test persons (TP 03, 04, 07, 08, 09, 10) indicated that they found it "not at all unpleasant." These test persons justified their answers either by saying that they had been able to answer honestly (due to the fact that they had never looked at pornographic content on the Internet in the last 14 days) and that there had therefore been no reason to feel uncomfortable, or that the question had not triggered any feeling of shame in them:

Table N2_F11. Frequency distribution Specific Probe (N = 10)

1 Not at all unpleasant	6
2	-
3	1
4	2
5	-
6	-
7 Very unpleasant	1

• "Because I could honestly answer 'never', I didn't find that awkward at all. But I could imagine that this is a very awkward question overall.” (TP 03)
• "Because in the meantime I find that this is a topic that you can also talk about. Well, I don't have any sense of shame about something like that either, I'm pretty open about it due to.” (TP 04)
• "I find almost nothing unpleasant. You are just asked and give an answer.” (TP 08)
• "Because that's just part of life. So okay, everyone can see it differently. Men see it differently than women, as everyone knows. We have already had this discussion. But it's nothing negative in and of itself.” (TP 09)

Three test persons stated that they found answering the question "somewhat unpleasant" (scale points 3 and 4). They justified their classification by saying that on the one hand they were open in dealing with the topic, but on the other hand it was also very personal or they had been surprised by the question:

• "Because I personally deal with the topic very openly and I also believe that the consumption of pornographic content - of course, this again depends on the person - is not a big taboo topic. And that's why I don't feel uncomfortable talking about it.” (TP 01; Answer: Scale point 3)
• "I was very slightly embarrassed. But only because I didn't expect the question. But I had no problem answering the question. I was just a little surprised.” (TP 02; Answer: Scale point 4)
• "Because it is very personal, you would rather not talk about it with strangers.” (TP 05; Answer: Scale point 4)

Only test person 06 found answering the question "very uncomfortable" (scale point 7), explaining that this was a "very intimate question".

Furthermore, test persons were asked to indicate on a seven-point scale how honestly they thought respondents would answer this question in a real survey (see Table N4_F11). Overall, test persons rated respondent honesty rather low. Most of them placed themselves on the second scale point and justified their answer by saying that most people would be embarrassed to talk about this intimate topic:

• "Because many people are sure to be embarrassed.” (TP 03)
• "I think a lot of people are ashamed of watching porn or pornographic content.” (TP 04)
• "Because it's something private, something embarrassing that you don't want to admit like that.” (TP 05)
• "I don't think most answer that honestly. I think most would be ashamed or would not have the courage.” (TP 09)

Table N4_F11. Frequency distribution Specific Probe (N = 10)

1 Not honest at all	-
2	4
3	2
4	3
5	1
6	-
7 Very honest	-

The remaining test persons justified their answers (in the middle range of the scale) by saying that it depended on the individual or that gender played a role in answering the question honestly:

• "Because I believe, as I said, that it varies greatly from person to person, that a few people are more willing to give an honest answer due to this. And a few people are more likely to lie in order to, let's say, satisfy the social demand.” (TP 01; Answer: Scale point 4)
• "I think women would answer the question more dishonestly than men. So maybe 30 percent would answer the question honestly.” (TP 02; Answer: Scale point 3