Estimating illicit drug use through telephone interviews and the randomized response technique

To determine whether or not telephone interviewing could be a viable alternative to field interviewing as a method for eliciting drug use information, a variation of Warner's randomized response technique (RRT) was developed. Comparisons were made between the telephone responses obtained through use of the RRT and those obtained through direct questioning. Although none of the comparisons showed a statistically significant difference, three out of four favored the RRT. Background characteristics of respondents were examined to identify those individuals who might be most receptive to the RRT. Major implications of the findings are discussed.