Exploring the Mind of the Interviewer: Findings from Research with Interviewers to Improve the Survey Process

The interviewers’ task in the data collection process is a complex one, with many judgments and decisions being made from moment to moment as they ask questions to get answers from respondents (Japec, 2008). Many survey organizations train their interviewers to use standardized language and read questions verbatim. However, in practice, interviewers may need to use a conversational approach and probe respondents to get the answers needed. This research explores the process by which interviewers make such decisions in real-time by conducting research with interviewers about their experiences collecting data. Using a cognitive interview approach, we asked interviewers about multiple aspects of the survey process, including how they handle asking and probing about sensitive or difficult-to-answer questions, how they decide to probe further versus accept an answer as-is, and when they decide to use lead-ins to questions such as apologizing or distancing themselves from the survey. We also had interviewers provide feedback on hypothetical vignettes (varying in their level of sensitivity and difficulty) that closely mimicked interviewer-respondent interactions they might experience in the field. We conducted a total of 27 semi-structured cognitive interviews with survey interviewers from a federal statistical agency. The interviewers had a wide range of experience interviewing at their agency, from under one year to over 15 years, and across multiple survey topics, including employment, health, housing, crime, and expenditures. Two researchers conducted the interviews, three of which were conducted in person and 24 by telephone, each lasting approximately 60 minutes. Major themes that emerged during the interviews were coded and analyzed by the researchers. For instance, we categorized the reasons respondents find questions sensitive or difficult to answer (e.g., invasive questions, recall problems, privacy concerns). We also identified themes and coded the types of question lead-ins interviewers reported using to address sensitive or difficult questions (e.g., distancing, apologizing, and repeating the question). We also provide qualitative analysis and descriptions of emergent probes and other techniques interviewers reported using to help with the survey process, such as reminding respondents of the confidentiality of their responses, the importance of their data, the ability to skip a question, and how interviewers go about deciding whether to probe further or accept a response. We also found evidence that interviewers sometimes experience sensitivity or discomfort themselves when asking respondents about sensitive topics, and strategies they have identified to overcome those challenges. Finally, we will report on the interviewers’ reactions to hypothetical vignettes depicting interviewer-respondent interactions and provide analyses about how interviewers handle these situations, as well as their ratings of how sensitive or difficult these survey questions would be for them to administer and for respondents to answer in the field. Learning directly from interviewers about how they think through an interview and what obstacles they face is a critical step in beginning to understand how to develop realistic data collection decisions, and improve training and support for interviewers. We will discuss the results of these interviews and their implications for improving the survey process

Highly prevalent but not always persistent: undergraduate and graduate student's misconceptions about psychology.

Although past research has documented the prevalence of misconceptions in introductory psychology classes, few studies have assessed how readily upper-level undergraduate and graduate students endorse erroneous beliefs about the discipline. In Study 1, we administered a 30-item misconception test to an international sample of 670 undergraduate, Master’s and doctoral students. Analyses indicated that participants identified and rejected the majority of misconceptions, with doctoral students performing better than their Master’s or undergraduate peers. In Study 2, we administered a revised version of our questionnaire to a novel sample of 557 students while controlling for number of years spent at university, psychology courses completed and need for cognition. Once again, we found that graduate students rejected more, affirmed less and reported lower levels of uncertainty than their undergraduate counterparts. Educational implications and future research directions are discussed

Multi-mode question pretesting: Using traditional cognitive interviews and online testing as complementary methods

Questionnaire development, evaluation, and pretesting research is critical for ensuring that survey questions, materials, and data collection procedures produce the highest quality data possible. Interviewer-administered cognitive interviews is a common pretesting method used to collect rich, qualitative data. As technology has advanced, researchers can conduct similar research online in self-administered modes (Behr 2016), allowing for pretesting with larger samples. Each approach has strengths and limitations that researchers can leverage to address their pretesting goals. This research presents a multi-study, iterative project using traditional and online pretesting to evaluate new confidentiality language. Study 1 used traditional cognitive interviews to collect information on respondents’ qualitative reactions to, and comprehension of, the new language, but was limited by a small sample of prior survey respondents. Study 2 used online testing to help verify the previous findings with a larger sample, but was limited to hypothetical respondent behaviour. Study 3 used online testing over two waves of data collection to evaluate actual behaviour over time and expanded on the previous two studies by using an experimental design. We discuss the utility of using multiple pretesting methods to complement each other, providing research findings that would not be possible when using one alone

Virological Breakthrough: A Risk Factor for Loss to Followup in a Large Community-Based Cohort on Antiretroviral Therapy

Background. We have previously shown that 75% of individuals on antiretroviral therapy (ART) in a resource-limited setting who experienced virological breakthrough to >1000 copies/mL were resuppressed after an intensive adherence intervention. This study examines the long-term outcomes of this group in order to understand the impact of the adherence intervention over time. Methods. ART-naïve adults commencing ART between September 2002 and December 2009 were reviewed. Those who achieved suppression (<50 copies/mL) were categorised by subsequent viral load: any >1000 copies/mL (virological breakthrough) or not. Those with breakthrough were sub-categorised by following viral load into failed (VL > 1000 copies/mL) or resuppressed (VL < 1000 copies/mL). Their outcome (lost-to follow-up, death, in care on first-line therapy or in care on second-line therapy) was determined as of the 13th April 2010. Findings. 4047 ART-naïve adults commenced ART. 3086 had >2 viral loads and were included in the analysis. 2959 achieved virological suppression (96%). Thereafter 2109 (71%) remained suppressed and 850 (29%) experienced breakthrough (n = 283 (33%) failed and n = 567 (67%) resuppressed). Individuals with breakthrough were younger (P < .001), had lower CD4 counts (P < .001), and higher viral loads (P < .001) than those who remained suppressed. By 7 years the risk of breakthrough was 42% and of failure 15%. Fewer adults with breakthrough remain in care over time (P < .001). Loss to care is similar whether the individuals failed or resuppressed. Interpretation. While 67% of those who experience initial virological breakthrough resuppress after an adherence intervention, these individuals are significantly less likely be retained in care than those who remain virologically suppressed throughout

The impact of HIV status and antiretroviral treatment on TB treatment outcomes of new tuberculosis patients attending co-located TB and ART services in South Africa: a retrospective cohort study

BackgroundThe implementation of collaborative TB-HIV services is challenging. We, therefore, assessed TB treatment outcomes in relation to HIV infection and antiretroviral therapy (ART) among TB patients attending a primary care service with co-located ART and TB clinics in Cape Town, South Africa.MethodsIn this retrospective cohort study, all new TB patients aged ≥ 15years who registered and initiated TB treatment between 1 October 2009 and 30 June 2011 were identified from an electronic database. The effects of HIV-infection and ART on TB treatment outcomes were analysed using a multinomial logistic regression model, in which treatment success was the reference outcome.ResultsThe 797 new TB patients included in the analysis were categorized as follows: HIV- negative, in 325 patients (40.8%); HIV-positive on ART, in 339 patients (42.5%) and HIV-positive not on ART, in 133 patients (16.7%). Overall, bivariate analyses showed no significant difference in death and default rates between HIV-positive TB patients on ART and HIV-negative patients. Statistically significant higher mortality rates were found among HIV-positive patients not on ART compared to HIV-negative patients (unadjusted odds ratio (OR) 3.25; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.53–6.91). When multivariate analyses were conducted, the only significant difference between the patient categories on TB treatment outcomes was that HIV-positive TB patients not on ART had significantly higher mortality rates than HIV-negative patients (adjusted OR 4.12; 95% CI 1.76–9.66). Among HIV-positive TB patients (n = 472), 28.2% deemed eligible did not initiate ART in spite of the co-location of TB and ART services. When multivariate analyses were restricted to HIV-positive patients in the cohort, we found that being HIV-positive not on ART was associated with higher mortality (adjusted OR 7.12; 95% CI 2.95–18.47) and higher default rates (adjusted OR 2.27; 95% CI 1.15–4.47).ConclusionsThere was no significant difference in death and default rates between HIV-positive TB patients on ART and HIV negative TB patients. Despite the co-location of services 28.2% of 472 HIV-positive TB patients deemed eligible did not initiate ART. These patients had a significantly higher death and default rates

A Survey for Planetary Nebulae in M31 Globular Clusters

We report the results of an [O III] 5007 spectroscopic survey for planetary nebulae (PNe) located within the star clusters of M31. By examining R ~ 5000 spectra taken with the WIYN+Hydra spectrograph, we identify 3 PN candidates in a sample of 274 likely globular clusters, 2 candidates in objects which may be globular clusters, and 5 candidates in a set of 85 younger systems. The possible PNe are all faint, between ~2.5 and ~6.8 mag down the PN luminosity function, and, partly as a consequence of our selection criteria, have high excitation, with [O III] 5007 to H-beta ratios ranging from 2 to ~12. We discuss the individual candidates, their likelihood of cluster membership, and the possibility that they were formed via binary interactions within the clusters. Our data are consistent with the suggestion that PN formation within globular clusters correlates with binary encounter frequency, though, due to the small numbers and large uncertainties in the candidate list, this study does not provide sufficient evidence to confirm the hypothesis.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal. 54 pages, including 9 figures and 4 table

Representations of integers by the form x2 + xy + y2 + z2 + zt + t2

Electronic version of an article published in International Journal of Number Theory Volume 04, Issue 05, October 2008, pp. 709-714. DOI: 10.1142/S1793042108001638. Copyright © 2008 World Scientific Publishing Company: http://www.worldscientific.com/worldscinet/ijntWe give an elementary proof of the number of representations of an integer by the quaternary quadratic form x2 + xy + y2 + z2 + zt + t2

Exploring the Impact of Interviewer Perceptions and Interviewer-Respondent Interactions on the Survey of Income and Program Participation: Analysis of CARI recordings

Interviewers play a significant role in telephone and face-to-face interviews, including gaining respondent cooperation and administering survey questions. Increasingly, interviewers’ perceptions of the respondent and interview experience, such as cooperativeness and interest, are also being used to assess measurement error and make adjustments to data (West, 2013; Kirchner et al., 2017). Although interviewer perceptions are typically recorded at the end of the interview, interviewers are likely to begin forming perceptions about the household and respondent based on their first contact attempt (and continue developing them during the interview). We hypothesize that interview context factors, such as interviewer perceptions of the physical interview environment and the respondent’s reluctance, may interact with question characteristics, such as sensitivity and cognitive burden, to influence interviewer-respondent interactions. One survey that may be particularly impacted by context factors is the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP). The SIPP is a multi-wave household survey that asks questions about economic well-being, family dynamics, and housing security, among other sensitive and cognitively burdensome topics. SIPP interviewers receive standardized training but they also implement individual strategies as they react to the questionnaire, respondent, and interview context. For example, interviewers may anticipate that some respondents will react sensitively to interview questions and proactively tailor questions to reduce sensitivity. The criteria that interviewers use to make these judgments may vary, resulting in differences in question-asking and probing behavior that may ultimately affect response distributions and respondent burden in unexpected ways. The purpose of the present study was to develop a framework of the interviewer-respondent interaction from the interviewer’s perspective. A primary goal was to investigate whether an interviewer’s question-asking or probing behavior differs between contexts that are sensitive or burdensome (e.g., sensitive and non-sensitive questions; reluctant and non-reluctant respondents). In addition, we identify the interviewer behaviors that appear to reduce respondent behaviors associated with measurement error. To do this, we combined several data sources from the 2014 SIPP Panel: computer audio-recorded interviewing (CARI) recordings, interviewer perceptions of the physical interview environment (Neighborhood Observation Instrument, NOI) and of respondent behaviors during contact attempts (Contact History Instrument, CHI), SIPP data including responses to survey questions and demographics, and interviewer characteristics. Three researchers independently transcribed and coded audio recordings of the full interaction for a sample of the targeted questions. Behavior codes included: whether the interviewer changed the survey question and what type of change was made (e.g., tailored the question to match the respondent’s situation), how the interviewer reacted to responses (used a suggestive probe); whether the respondent did not give a codeable response (a vague answer that does not unambiguously match a response option); and other codes that describe the interaction (pauses, interruptions). We plan to present descriptive analyses of interviewer and respondent behaviors, as well as modeling results that examine the extent to which (a) selected interview context factors predict interviewer behavior and (b) interviewing strategies predict response and interview outcomes. Implications for data quality, interviewer training, questionnaire design, and survey methods in general will be discussed

Repeated call types in Hawaiian melon-headed whales (Peponocephala electra)

Author Posting. © Acoustical Society of America, 2014. This article is posted here by permission of Acoustical Society of America for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 136 (2014): 1394, doi:10.1121/1.4892759.Melon-headed whales are pantropical odontocetes that are often found near oceanic islands. While considered sound-sensitive, their bioacoustic characteristics are relatively poorly studied. The goal of this study was to characterize the vocal repertoire of melon-headed whales to determine whether they produce repeated calls that could assist in recognition of conspecifics. The first tag-based acoustic recordings of three melon-headed whales were analyzed. Tag records were visually and aurally inspected and all calls were individually extracted. Non-overlapping calls with sufficient signal-to-noise were then parameterized and visually grouped into categories of repeated call types. Thirty-six call categories emerged. Categories differed significantly in duration, peak and centroid frequency, and −3 dB bandwidth. Calls of a given type were more likely to follow each other than expected. These data suggest that repeated calls may function in individual, subgroup, or group recognition. Repeated call production could also serve to enhance signal detection in large groups with many individuals producing simultaneous calls. Results suggest that caution should be used in developing automatic classification algorithms for this species based on small sample sizes, as they may be dominated by repeated calls from a few individuals, and thus not representative of species- or population-specific acoustic parameters.This project was funded by the Office of Naval Research (award number: N000141110612; Program Manager Michael J. Weise), WHOI Marine Mammal Center, and the Sawyer and Penzance Endowed Funds, with additional field time funded by grants through Cascadia Research Collective by the National Oceanographic Partnership Program (through the Alaska SeaLife Center) and the Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center

Burden of New and Recurrent Tuberculosis in a Major South African City Stratified by Age and HIV-Status

CITATION: Wood, R. et al. 2011. Burden of new and recurrent tuberculosis in a major South African city stratified by age and HIV-status. PLos ONE, 6(10): e25098, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0025098.The original publication is available at http://journals.plos.org/plosoneAim To describe the burden of tuberculosis (TB) in Cape Town by calculating TB incidence rates stratified by age and HIV-status, assessing the contribution of retreatment disease and estimating the cumulative lifetime TB risk in HIV-negative individuals. Methods Details of TB cases were abstracted from the 2009 electronic TB register. Population denominators were estimated from census data and actuarial estimates of HIV prevalence, allowing calculation of age-specific and HIV-stratified TB notification rates. Results The 2009 mid-year population was 3,443,010 (3,241,508 HIV-negative and 201,502 HIV-positive individuals). There were 29,478 newly notified TB cases of which 56% were laboratory confirmed. HIV status was recorded for 87% of cases and of those with known HIV-status 49% were HIV-negative and 51% were positive. Discrete peaks in the incidence of non-HIV-associated TB occurred at three ages: 511/100,000 at 0–4 years of age, 553/100,000 at 20–24 years and 628/100,000 at 45–49 years with 1.5%, 19% and 45% being due to retreatment TB, respectively. Only 15.5% of recurrent cases had a history of TB treatment failure or default. The cumulative lifetime risks in the HIV-negative population of all new TB episodes and new smear-positive TB episodes were 24% and 12%, respectively; the lifetime risk of retreatment disease was 9%. The HIV-positive notification rate was 6,567/100,000 (HIV-associated TB rate ratio = 17). Although retreatment cases comprised 30% of the HIV-associated TB burden, 88% of these patients had no history of prior treatment failure or default. Conclusions The annual burden of TB in this city is huge. TB in the HIV-negative population contributed almost half of the overall disease burden and cumulative lifetime risks were similar to those reported in the pre-chemotherapy era. Retreatment TB contributed significantly to both HIV-associated and non-HIV-associated TB but infrequently followed prior inadequate treatment. This likely reflects ongoing TB transmission to both HIV-negative and positive individuals.http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0025098Publisher's versio