Comparing one-partner and couple data on sensitive marital behaviors: The case of marital violence

This article addresses effects of reporting bias on spouses' answers to questions concerning sensitive marital issues by comparing one-partner and couple data on marital violence. Data are based on a subsample of the National Survey of Families and Households, Wave 1 (n = 4,088). The results reveal considerable underreporting of violence. In addition, some predictors of violence are significantly related to underreporting by one spouse, and such relationships between predictors of violence and underreporting result in some divergences between predictor models based on one-partner and couple scores of violence. The findings further indicate that data collection method significantly influences reporting of violence.