Identifying Reticent Respondents: Assessing the Quality of Survey Data on Corruption and Values

A study is conducted to examine the extent and nature of corruption in registering, licensing and inspecting among Romanian business officials. A novel methodology has been implemented for identifying the respondents for answering on sensitive topics. The Romanian respondents are identified as reticent as they respond differently from others on standard questions Less corruption existed there and as a result, estimates of corruption derived from surveys are considerably downward biased. Possibilities for improvement were suggested with the use of survey research which is a powerful tool. The measurement of corruption and other indicators of governance are not the only goals in itself, but also a building block of research and policy analysis. This methodology can also be used for a number of applications such as studying tax evasion, drug abuse, HIV/AIDS, and sexual behavior, and can help in identifying reticent respondents.