How Accurate Are Survey Measurements of Objective Phenomena?

Abstract How accurate are survey measurements of phenomena that can be objectively verified? This article reports a review of various types of evidence assessing accuracy (vs. benchmarks not derived from self-reports) across a wide spectrum of content areas, including demographics, healthcare, labor force statistics, substance use and more. The vast majority of measurements were accurate, according to three assessment methods. Individual respondents’ self-reports closely matched objective records of the same phenomena for the same individual. Small aggregate differences were observed between survey sample means and aggregate means derived from objective records. Self-reports correlated strongly with measures of the same attributes of those individuals from secondary data not based on self-reports. Taken together, the evidence suggests that survey measurements of objective phenomena are highly accurate.