title: Phoning logistics in a longitudinal follow-up of batterers and their partners.
abstract: More needs to be known about the phoning logistics of interviewing subjects for longitudinal follow-up studies in the domestic violence field. Using phoning logs from a 4-year follow-up of batterer intervention, the authors calculated the number, results, and costs of phone calls from a subsample of 100 men and 138 women. The number of calls is high (5.5 per man and 7.1 per woman), locators play a substantial role (for 25% of the men and women), and mailed questionnaires are a useful supplement (increasing response rate 5% for men and 11% for women). On average, about half of the subjects were interviewed at each interval. The main obstacle is not refusals but no response and not being able to locate a subject. Strategies to address "no response" are considered.
authors.affiliation: Mid-Atlantic Addiction Training Institute, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, USA.
authors.forename: Edward W
authors.initials: EW
authors.lastname: Gondolf
authors.forename: Crystal
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Deemer
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D018585:Battered Women / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D012008:Recurrence; D012307:Risk Factors; D012650:Self Disclosure; D013179:Spouse Abuse / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D018454:Spouses / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013689:Telephone; D013781:Texas / Q000453:epidemiology; D013997:Time Factors