Chapter 2.2, Problem 25E

The paper “Deception and Design: The Impact of Communication Technology on Lying Behavior” (Computer-Human Interaction [2009]: 130–136) describes an investigation into whether lying is less common in face-to-face communication than in other forms of communication such as phone conversations or e-mail. Participants in this study were 30 students in an upper-division communications course at Cornell University who received course credit for participation. Participants were asked to record all of their social interactions for a week, making note of any lies told.

Based on data from these records, the authors of the paper concluded that students lie more often in phone conversations than in face-to-face conversations and more often in face-to-face conversations than in e-mail.

Discuss the limitations of this study, commenting on the way the sample was selected and potential sources of bias.