Social desirability bias and faculty respondents: Is 'good behavior' harming survey results?

Abstract

Social desirability bias has long been a concern for survey researchers, with mixed findings for student self-reports in higher education. To extend this research, the current study investigates the potential presence of social desirability bias in faculty surveys. In addition to the core Faculty Survey of Student Engagement, this study used responses from a social desirability measure given to 1,574 faculty members at 18 institutions. A series of 10 step-wise OLS regression analyses looking at engagement indicators (while controlling for other faculty and institutional characteristics) suggest that in all cases, social desirability bias does not seem to be a major factor in faculty survey responses. However, it is also important to consider how some items are "sensitive" for specific populations.