Are Self-Reports of Adolescent Deviance Valid? Biochemical Measures, Randomized Response, and the Bogus Pipeline in Smoking Behavior

Two measures of questionnaire response validity were used in a survey of teenage smoking (student respondents in grades 7–12) in a midwest community. Responses to a confidential questionnaire were validated by responses to an anonymous “randomized response” instrument and a biochemical measure of smoking (salivary thiocyanate). Both measures support the validity of questionnaire responses. The randomized response measure is an anonymous self-report check on the accuracy of confidential self-reports, and the biochemical measure provides a strong validity measure that is not subject to the problems of deliberate faking. The validity of responses was not significantly affected by the introduction of a “bogus pipeline” condition.