4 ms·

This entire article is based on a self report study of 5,000 people. Self report studies are usually unreliable and never tell a clear story. In this case, lit

This entire article is based on a self report study of 5,000 people. Self report studies are usually unreliable and never tell a clear story. In this case, literally all the study can show is that wealthier respondents self-report having knowingly stolen from self checkout. Is this because they are the most likely to do it? Or are they more likely to tell the truth on a survey, maybe if they feel less insecure in their daily life? We don't know if they actually stole, is it possible that the numbers are inflated when the wealthy respondents for some reason say they had stolen when they hadn't? Self report studies have a use and can be helpful to find potential correlations worth properly studying, but taking a self report study and blowing it up into an article like this is irresponsible journalism in my opinion.

seanmcdirmid 3y ago
I accidentally stole a drink once because I forgot to scan it, and didn’t realize it until I got to my car. I’m also of income and age that would admit this. It really depends on what question they ask. But ya, self reported surveys are unreliable and can’t be used as real data in even the social sciences. If I can’t actually scan something, I just hit the help button and it gets taken care of. Not sure what is going on with this question.
- MattPalmer1086 3y ago
  Yep, a few times I've ended up with something that hadn't scanned. A bunch of other times I accidentally scanned something twice without realising. Their app was bad at registering whether something had scanned or not; you would scan something again, and then later it would register the first scan. One time they did a random check on my bag and found one item that hadn't scanned. They didn't accuse me of theft, but they did block me using their self scan app. This was actually a blessing, as their app was so frustrating and unreliable shopping became more pleasant.
  - seanmcdirmid 3y ago
    I never used self scan apps before, just self checkout.

seanmcdirmid 3y ago

I accidentally stole a drink once because I forgot to scan it, and didn’t realize it until I got to my car. I’m also of income and age that would admit this. It really depends on what question they ask. But ya, self reported surveys are unreliable and can’t be used as real data in even the social sciences. If I can’t actually scan something, I just hit the help button and it gets taken care of. Not sure what is going on with this question.

MattPalmer1086 3y ago
Yep, a few times I've ended up with something that hadn't scanned. A bunch of other times I accidentally scanned something twice without realising. Their app was bad at registering whether something had scanned or not; you would scan something again, and then later it would register the first scan. One time they did a random check on my bag and found one item that hadn't scanned. They didn't accuse me of theft, but they did block me using their self scan app. This was actually a blessing, as their app was so frustrating and unreliable shopping became more pleasant.
- seanmcdirmid 3y ago
  I never used self scan apps before, just self checkout.