Current practices recommend placing a self-rated health question before specific health items in survey questionnaires to minimize potential order effects. Because this recommendation is based on data collected in English, its applicability to other languages is unknown. This study examines whether there is an order effect associated with self-rated health for interviews conducted in English… Continue reading The effect of question order on self-rated general health status in a multilingual survey context
Keyword: Polls & Surveys
Another look at aggregate changes in severe cognitive impairment: Further investigation into the cumulative effects of three survey design issues
A study explored whether previously reported declines in severe cognitive impairment were robust to cumulative effects of potentially confounding survey design issues. The results show that previously reported improvements in severe cognitive impairment appear to be robust to a variety of specifications. OBJECTIVES: This study explored whether previously reported declines in severe cognitive impairment were… Continue reading Another look at aggregate changes in severe cognitive impairment: Further investigation into the cumulative effects of three survey design issues
Trends in medication use and functioning before retirement age: Are they linked?
This paper explores the extent to which changes in medication use during the 1990s are linked to improvements in functioning among Americans before they reach retirement age. Using two cross-sections from a survey of Americans ages 51-61, we examined changes between 1992 and 1998 in the prevalence of functional limitations and medication use associated with… Continue reading Trends in medication use and functioning before retirement age: Are they linked?
Sampling Telephone Numbers And Adults, Interview Length, And Weighting In The California Health Interview Survey Cell Phone Pilot Study
This article describes several features included in a California Health Interview Survey cell phone pilot study that differ from earlier cell phone surveys conducted in the United States. One difference is that the study used a screening design and only adults living in cell-only households were interviewed. Most of the previous studies used dual frame… Continue reading Sampling Telephone Numbers And Adults, Interview Length, And Weighting In The California Health Interview Survey Cell Phone Pilot Study
Effects of benefits appeals, mandatory appeals, and variations in statements of confidentiality on completion rates for census questionnaires
The effects of 2 different prominently displayed appeals are examined in combination with 2 different prominently displayed confidentiality assurances on mail-back completion rates for census questionnaires. The experiment was carried out on a national probability sample of 30,000 household units, using occupant-addressed questionnaires that contained the content of the 1990 decennial census short form. Neither… Continue reading Effects of benefits appeals, mandatory appeals, and variations in statements of confidentiality on completion rates for census questionnaires
Measurement of Assistive Device Use: Implications for Estimates of Device Use and Disability in Late Life
Cornman et al systematically examine approaches that national surveys have used to measure the use of assistive devices and the implications of the different approaches for prevalence estimates of device use and disability in late life. Results show that estimates of the use of any device are similar across surveys, ranging from 14%-18% for the… Continue reading Measurement of Assistive Device Use: Implications for Estimates of Device Use and Disability in Late Life
Context effects on responses to questions about AIDS
According to surveys, the proportion of people believing that AIDS could be caught by donating blood has increased dramatically, from 28.9% in October 1988 to 43.5% in November 1989. One possible explanation for this change was that an inadvertent change in the order in which the question about donating blood was asked had contributed to… Continue reading Context effects on responses to questions about AIDS
Including information about co-morbidity in estimates of disease burden: Results from the World Health Organization World Mental Health Surveys
Background: The methodology commonly used to estimate disease burden, featuring ratings of severity of individual conditions, has been criticized for ignoring co-morbidity. A methodology that addresses this problem is proposed and illustrated here with data from the World Health Organization World Mental Health Surveys. Although the analysis is based on self-reports about one’s own conditions… Continue reading Including information about co-morbidity in estimates of disease burden: Results from the World Health Organization World Mental Health Surveys