Systematic Bias in Student Self - Reported Data

The study analyzes the extent to which student self-reported data are biased and what variables can predict the degree of the bias. A variable that students feel more sensitive about is compared in terms of reporting bias to other less sensitive variables. The reporting bias is significant only for the sensitive variable. The study explains the reporting bias for the sensitive variable on the basis of student characteristics. The study uses a data set that consists of about 450 individual college student records. The study’s results have implications for the analysis of survey data outside of economic education. (JEL A22, C81)