Handheld computers have untapped potential to improve HIV/AIDS programs in sub-Saharan Africa, particularly in the collection of survey data. We conducted an experiment in three neighborhoods of Luanda, Angola to assess the impact of the technology on people’s comfort and willingness to disclose sensitive personal information, such as sexual behavior.
Participants were asked about their HIV/AIDSrelated knowledge, attitudes, and practices by local interviewers using either handheld computers or paper surveys. T-tests showed no differences between participants’ self-reported comfort across handheld and paper conditions. However, participants in the handheld condition were more likely to give socially desirable responses to the sexual behavior questions than participants in the paper condition. These results suggest that using handheld computers in data collection in sub-Saharan Africa may lead to biased reports of HIV/AIDS-related risk behaviors.
Handheld computers have untapped potential to improve HIV/AIDS programs in sub-Saharan Africa, particularly in the collection of survey data. We conducted an experiment in three neighborhoods of Luanda, Angola to assess the impact of the technology on people’s comfort and willingness to disclose sensitive personal information, such as sexual behavior.
Participants were asked about their HIV/AIDSrelated knowledge, attitudes, and practices by local interviewers using either handheld computers or paper surveys. T-tests showed no differences between participants’ self-reported comfort across handheld and paper conditions. However, participants in the handheld condition were more likely to give socially desirable responses to the sexual behavior questions than participants in the paper condition. These results suggest that using handheld computers in data collection in sub-Saharan Africa may lead to biased reports of HIV/AIDS-related risk behaviors.
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