Colorbox: a novel method for eliciting sensitive behaviours in face-to-face interviewer-led surveys

Tools to implement the <b>Colorbox method</b> — a novel non-verbal survey technique for eliciting sensitive behaviours in interviewer-led face-to-face surveys, developed by Aurélia Lépine, Wally Toh, and Carole Treibich.OverviewThe Colorbox method addresses enumerator-driven sensitivity bias by replacing direct verbal responses with colour-coded PIN coupons. Respondents select a coupon whose colour corresponds to their answer, tear off and hand over only the PIN portion, and leave with all materials — keeping their response confidential from the interviewer while allowing researchers to decrypt individual-level answers using a secure key.The method supports both <b>binary outcomes</b> (2 colours, 6-digit PIN) and <b>categorical/ordinal outcomes</b> (4 colours, 7-digit PIN), and has been validated in two field applications: child labour measurement among cocoa farmers in Côte d'Ivoire, and risky sexual behaviour among female sex workers in Senegal.Repository Contents<b>Coupon generator</b> — scripts to produce print-ready coupon sheets with unique, non-sequential 6- or 7-digit PIN codes generated from a secure random seed. Valid codes represent a small fraction of all possible codes, allowing most data entry errors to be automatically flagged<b>Envelope assembler</b> — tooling to organise coupons by envelope, participant identifier, and question set (binary vs. categorical), including training coupon sets marked "T"<b>Decryption program</b> — post-fieldwork tool to map collected PIN codes back to their colour (answer) using the survey-specific seed and valid code lookup table, enabling individual-level analysise.ReferenceLépine, A., Toh, W. &amp; Treibich, C. — <i>Colorbox: a novel method for eliciting sensitive behaviours in interview-led face-to-face surveys</i>. World Bank Economic Review.

实现<b>Colorbox方法（Colorbox Method）</b>的工具集——由Aurélia Lépine、Wally Toh与Carole Treibich开发的一种新型非言语调查技术，用于在访员主导的面对面调查中获取敏感行为相关数据。

### 概述
Colorbox方法通过用颜色编码的个人识别码（Personal Identification Number, PIN）优惠券替代直接口头回答，解决了访员带来的敏感性偏差问题。受访者选择与自身回答对应的颜色优惠券，撕下并仅上交PIN部分，其余材料则留存——这既保证了受访者的回答对访员保密，又允许研究人员通过安全密钥解密个体层面的回答。
该方法支持两类结果场景：<b>二分类结果（Binary Outcomes）</b>（2种颜色、6位PIN码）与<b>分类/序数结果（Categorical/Ordinal Outcomes）</b>（4种颜色、7位PIN码），并已在两项实地应用中得到验证：分别为科特迪瓦可可种植农户的童工劳动测量，以及塞内加尔女性性工作者的高危性行为调查。

### 仓库内容
1. <b>优惠券生成器（Coupon Generator）</b>：用于生成可直接印刷的优惠券工作表的脚本，基于安全随机种子生成唯一且非连续的6位或7位PIN码。有效代码仅占所有可能代码的极小比例，可自动标记绝大多数数据录入错误。
2. <b>信封组装工具（Envelope Assembler）</b>：用于按信封、参与者标识符与问题集（二分类vs分类）整理优惠券的工具，包括标注为"T"的训练优惠券集。
3. <b>解密程序（Decryption Program）</b>：实地调查结束后使用的工具，可通过调查专属的种子与有效代码查找表，将收集到的PIN码映射回对应的颜色（即回答），支持个体层面的数据分析。

### 参考文献
Lépine, A., Toh, W. & Treibich, C. — *Colorbox: a novel method for eliciting sensitive behaviours in interview-led face-to-face surveys*. 《世界银行经济评论（World Bank Economic Review）》。