Conducting cognitive interviews to understand question-response limitations.
OBJECTIVE
To illustrate how cognitive interviewing techniques can be used to identify question-response problems for poorer and less educated survey respondents and to describe how qualitative analyses of interviews can improve survey questionnaires.


METHODS
A cognitive interviewing project testing a general health questionnaire was administered in southern rural Mississippi.


RESULTS
Three themes of response difficulty were identified: 1) responding within a survey interaction, 2) making mathematical calculations, and 3) responding within another system of knowledge.


CONCLUSIONS
Understanding how sociocultural factors impact the response process is vital for survey research.
Miller
Kristen
K
Survey Statistician, Office of Research and Methodology, National Center for Health Statistics, Hyattsville, MD 20782, USA. KSMiller@cdc.gov
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D035841:Behavioral Research; D002170:Canada; D003071:Cognition; D003142:Communication; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008922:Mississippi; D011203:Poverty; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012424:Rural Population; D012650:Self Disclosure; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires