A Scent of Strategy: Response Error in a List Experiment on Anti-Immigrant Sentiment

Abstract

This Research Note reports on a list experiment regarding anti-immigrant sentiment (n=1,965) that was fielded in Spain in 2020. Among participants with left-of-center ideology, the experiment originated a negative difference-in-means between treatment and control. Drawing on Zigerell’s (2011) deflation hypothesis, we assess the possibility that leftist treatment group respondents may have altered their scores by more than one to distance themselves unmistakably from the sensitive item. We consider this possibility plausible in a context of intense polarization where immigration attitudes are closely associated with political ideology. This study’s data speak to the results of recent meta-analyses that have revealed list-experiments to fail when applied to prejudiced attitudes and other highly sensitive issues – i.e., precisely the kind of issues with regard to which the technique ought to work best. We conclude that the possibility of strategic response error in specific respondent categories needs to be considered when staging and interpreting list experiments.