Third Article

This was a paper that came by accident.  This is while I was working at Cape Croker doing a visitor survey.  My research assistants who were both of First Nations decent were getting different answers than the mailbox and I when collecting surveys.  The truth was, that one does usually go to a party and tell the host it wasn't perfect.  See the results below:

Smith, W.W. (2007).  Social desirability bias and exit survey responses: The case of a First Nations campground in central Ontario Canada.  Tourism Management. 28(2007): 917-919.

The purpose of this paper is to illustrate a case in which social desirability bias may have affected exit survey results. In this case, an exit survey of visitors to a First Nations (or aboriginal) campground, the results varied according to who collected the data (two aboriginal or First Nations research assistant versus a Caucasian researcher or mailbox). Overall, those who delivered the results to the First Nations research assistants provided answers that were more favorable than those delivered to the Caucasian researcher or mailbox. Many of results were found to be overly positive especially in regards to questions related to staff performance. The results of this study indicate that tourism researchers must be wary of data collection procedures (especially when attempting to measure cross culturally).  Finally, this paper examines methods to counter act situations, which may produce social desirability bias.