PROJECT
Assessing and Improving the Measurement
of Sexual Behaviors

The AIDS pandemic has increased the need to gather comprehensive data on sexual behavior in developing countries. Not only is accurate self-reporting critical for household surveys that document risky sexual behavior, it is also essential for clinical trials that investigate the effectiveness of technologies to prevent transmission of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs), for example, female-controlled microbicides, the female condom, and the diaphragm. Through a series of methodological experiments and innovative research activities, the aim of this project is to:

• assess and improve the validity and reliability of reporting of sexual behavior in survey research implemented in developing countries;

• improve the quality of behavioral data collected in clinical trials of products and technologies aimed at reducing STI transmission; and

• evaluate the use of new technologies for collecting data on sexual behavior in developing countries, specifically computerized self-interviewing.

Computerized self-interviewing provides individuals greater privacy and confidentiality when responding to sensitive questions. For instance, in a school survey in Malawi, instead of answering aloud in a face-to-face interview, a respondent using an audio computer-assisted self-interviewing (ACASI) hand-held computer heard prerecorded questions through audio headphones and pressed numbers on a numeric keypad to answer them. Council researchers have found that most participants quickly learn how to use the interview program and prefer the computer over face-to-face interviews.

Research studies have been conducted or are underway in several countries. (more)

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Population Council researchers

Paul C. Hewett, Barbara S. Mensch, Annabel S. Erulkar

Non–Council collaborators

Hans-Peter Kohler (University of Pennsylvania)

Susan Watkins (University of California/Los Angeles)

Annie Cross and Joy Fishel (ORC Macro-International)

Helen Nviiri (Uganda Bureau of Statistics)

Ann Biddlecom (Alan Guttmacher Institute)

Donors

The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation

National Institutes of Health–The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development

U.K. Department for International Development

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