What is meant by "response bias" in surveys?

"Response bias" refers to a systematic tendency for participants to provide inaccurate answers in surveys, which can be influenced by various factors. This can include social desirability bias, where respondents may answer in a way they think is more socially acceptable rather than their true feelings, or acquiescence bias, where individuals tend to agree with statements as a default response. The reasons for this can be varied, such as the desire to please the researcher, misunderstanding questions, or the framing of questions themselves.

The other options describe situations that may arise in surveys but do not accurately capture the essence of response bias. For instance, when respondents answer questions truthfully, it reflects an absence of bias rather than the phenomenon itself. Identical answers from all participants suggest a lack of variability, which may indicate a different issue, like a poorly designed survey. Similarly, unclear survey questions pertain to the quality of the survey items but do not directly relate to the systematic inaccuracies in responses that characterize response bias.