Rarely pure and never simple. Extracting the truth from self-reported data on substance use

Publication type

Research Paper

Series Number

11/07

Series

Cenmap working papers

Author

Publication date

September 15, 2006

Abstract:

We consider the misreporting of illicit drug use and juvenile smoking in self-report surveys and its consequences for statistical inference. Panel data containing repeated self-reports of 'lifetime' prevalence give unambiguous evidence of misreporting as 'recanting' of earlier reports of drug use. The identification of true initiation and reporting processes from such data is problematic in short panels, whilst more secure identification is possible in panels with at least five waves. Nevertheless, evidence from three UK datasets clearly indicates serious underreporting of cannabis, cocaine and tobacco use by young people, with consequent large biases in statistical modelling.

Subjects

Link

http://www.cemmap.ac.uk/publications.php

---

Related Publications

• Rarely Pure and Never Simple. Extracting the Truth from Self-Reported Data on Substance Use

  Stephen Pudney,

  Conference Paper - 20080111

• Rarely pure and never simple: extracting the truth from self-reported data on substance abuse

  Stephen Pudney,

  Conference Paper - 20070601

• Rarely Pure and Never Simple. Extracting the Truth from Self-Reported Data on Substance Use

  Stephen Pudney,

  Conference Paper - 20070131

#519504