2026-07-06T13:16:59Z https://api.figshare.com/v2/oai
oai:figshare.com:article/31456984 2026-03-03T19:52:06Z category_25972 portal_549 item_type_3 month_year_03_2026
10.5522/04/31456984.v1 https://figshare.com/articles/dataset/Colorbox_a_novel_method_for_eliciting_sensitive_behaviours_in_face-to-face_interviewer-led_surveys/31456984 https://ndownloader.figshare.com/files/62340049 https://ndownloader.figshare.com/files/62340058 https://ndownloader.figshare.com/files/62340082 https://ndownloader.figshare.com/files/62340088 https://ndownloader.figshare.com/files/62340091 Lepine, Aurelia Aurelia Lepine Toh, Wally Wally Toh Treibich, Carole Carole Treibich <![CDATA[Colorbox: a novel method for eliciting sensitive behaviours in face-to-face interviewer-led surveys]]> Health economics sensitivity bias Social desirability bias Colorbox 2026-03-03 2026-03-03 Dataset 2026 University College London Tools to implement the Colorbox method — a novel non-verbal survey technique for eliciting sensitive behaviours in interviewer-led face-to-face surveys, developed by Aurélia Lépine, Wally Toh, and Carole Treibich.

Overview

The Colorbox method addresses enumerator-driven sensitivity bias by replacing direct verbal responses with colour-coded PIN coupons. Respondents select a coupon whose colour corresponds to their answer, tear off and hand over only the PIN portion, and leave with all materials — keeping their response confidential from the interviewer while allowing researchers to decrypt individual-level answers using a secure key.

The method supports both binary outcomes (2 colours, 6-digit PIN) and categorical/ordinal outcomes (4 colours, 7-digit PIN), and has been validated in two field applications: child labour measurement among cocoa farmers in Côte d'Ivoire, and risky sexual behaviour among female sex workers in Senegal.

Repository Contents

  • Coupon generator — scripts to produce print-ready coupon sheets with unique, non-sequential 6- or 7-digit PIN codes generated from a secure random seed. Valid codes represent a small fraction of all possible codes, allowing most data entry errors to be automatically flagged
  • Envelope assembler — tooling to organise coupons by envelope, participant identifier, and question set (binary vs. categorical), including training coupon sets marked "T"
  • Decryption program — post-fieldwork tool to map collected PIN codes back to their colour (answer) using the survey-specific seed and valid code lookup table, enabling individual-level analysise.

Reference

Lépine, A., Toh, W. & Treibich, C. — Colorbox: a novel method for eliciting sensitive behaviours in interview-led face-to-face surveys. World Bank Economic Review.

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