Narratives of Response Error From Cognitive Interviews of Survey Questions About Normative Behavior

2015 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 540-564 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip S. Brenner
Keyword(s):  
Research Literature ◽  
Cognitive Interviews ◽  
Actual Behavior ◽  
Religious Behavior ◽  
Religious Service Attendance ◽  
Survey Question ◽  
Normative Behavior ◽  
Survey Questions ◽  
Shed Light ◽  
Service Attendance

That rates of normative behaviors produced by sample surveys are higher than actual behavior warrants is well evidenced in the research literature. Less well understood is the source of this error. Twenty-five cognitive interviews were conducted to probe responses to a set of common, conventional survey questions about one such normative behavior: religious service attendance. Answers to the survey questions and cognitive probes are compared both quantitatively and qualitatively. Half of the respondents amended their answer during cognitive probing, all amendments indicating a lower rate of attendance than originally reported, yielding a statistically significant reduction in reported attendance. Narrative responses shed light onto the source of bias, as respondents pragmatically interpreted the survey question to allow themselves to include other types of religious behavior, to report on a more religious past, and discount current constraints on their religious behavior, in order to report aspirational or normative religious identities.

Religion and Health

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tyler J. VanderWeele
Keyword(s):  
Research Literature ◽  
Religious Communities ◽  
Empirical Literature ◽  
Religious Service ◽  
Religious Service Attendance ◽  
Religion And Health ◽  
Present Survey ◽  
Religious Traditions ◽  
Open Questions ◽  
Service Attendance

This review is concerned with the relationships between religion and health. Its principal purpose is to provide an overview of the empirical research literature on this relationship, relating different forms of religious participation, especially religious service attendance, to various health outcomes. However, it also briefly considers theological and religious traditions and themes concerning health, healing, and wholeness. It further reviews interventions related to religious communities that promote health, considers relations between the empirical literature on religion and health and the theological/religious traditions, and discusses where there is convergence, where there is tension, and where various open questions for further reflection and research remain. It concludes with a number of summary propositions attempting to capture the major themes of the present survey.

scholarly journals Yes, no, maybe so: the importance of cognitive interviewing to enhance structured surveys on respectful maternity care in northern India

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kerry Scott ◽  
Dipanwita Gharai ◽  
Manjula Sharma ◽  
Namrata Choudhury ◽  
Bibha Mishra ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Rural Women ◽  
Maternity Care ◽  
Critical Discussion ◽  
Respectful Maternity Care ◽  
Cognitive Interviews ◽  
Survey Question ◽  
Response Options ◽  
Survey Tool ◽  
Northern India ◽  
Survey Questions

Abstract Quantitative survey findings are important in measuring health-related phenomena, including on sensitive topics such as respectful maternity care (RMC). But how well do survey results truly capture respondent experiences and opinions? Quantitative tool development and piloting often involve translating questions from other settings and assessing the mechanics of implementation, which fails to deeply explore how respondents understand survey questions and response options. To address this gap, we conducted cognitive interviews on survey questions (n = 88) adapted from validated RMC instruments used in Ethiopia, Kenya and elsewhere in India. Cognitive interviews with rural women (n = 21) in Madhya Pradesh, India involved asking the respondent the survey question, recording her response, then interviewing her about what the question and response options meant to her. We analysed the interviews to revise the tool and identify question failures, which we grouped into six areas: issues with sequencing, length and sensitivity; problematic response options; inappropriate vocabulary; temporal and spatial confusion; accessing different cognitive domains; and failure to resonate with the respondent’s worldview and reality. Although women tended to provide initial answers to the survey questions, cognitive interviews revealed widespread mismatch between respondent interpretation and question intent. Likert scale response options were generally incomprehensible and questions involving hypothetical scenarios could be interpreted in unexpected ways. Many key terms and concepts from the international RMC literature did not translate well and showed low resonance with respondents, including consent and being involved in decisions about one’s care. This study highlights the threat to data quality and the validity of findings when translating quantitative surveys between languages and cultures and showcases the value of cognitive interviews in identifying question failures. While survey tool revision can address many of these issues, further critical discussion is needed on the use of standardized questions to assess the same domains across contexts.

scholarly journals Christian Nationalism and Views of Immigrants in the United States: Is the Relationship Stronger for the Religiously Inactive?

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 237802312098511
Author(s):  
Samuel Stroope ◽  
Heather M. Rackin ◽  
Paul Froese
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
National Sample ◽  
Religious Communities ◽  
Religious Nationalism ◽  
Religious Service ◽  
Religious Service Attendance ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Christian Nationalism ◽  
Service Attendance

Previous research has shown that Christian nationalism is linked to nativism and immigrant animus, while religious service attendance is associated with pro-immigrant views. The findings highlight the importance of distinguishing between religious ideologies and practices when considering how religion affects politics. Using a national sample of U.S. adults, we analyze immigrant views by measuring levels of agreement or disagreement that undocumented immigrants from Mexico are “mostly dangerous criminals.” We find that Christian nationalism is inversely related to pro-immigrant views for both the religiously active and inactive. However, strongly pro-immigrant views are less likely and anti-immigrant views are more likely among strong Christian nationalists who are religiously inactive compared with strong Christian nationalists who are religiously active. These results illustrate how religious nationalism can weaken tolerance and heighten intolerance most noticeably when untethered from religious communities.

scholarly journals Open-ended versus Closed Probes: Assessing Different Formats of Web Probing

2021 ◽  
pp. 004912412110312
Author(s):  
Cornelia E. Neuert ◽  
Katharina Meitinger ◽  
Dorothée Behr
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Educational Level ◽  
Cognitive Interviewing ◽  
Cognitive Interviews ◽  
Web Surveys ◽  
Time Efficiency ◽  
Survey Questions ◽  
Item Functioning ◽  
Reduced Costs ◽  
Interviewing Techniques

The method of web probing integrates cognitive interviewing techniques into web surveys and is increasingly used to evaluate survey questions. In a usual web probing scenario, probes are administered immediately after the question to be tested (concurrent probing), typically as open-ended questions. A second possibility of administering probes is in a closed format, whereby the response categories for the closed probes are developed during previously conducted qualitative cognitive interviews. Using closed probes has several benefits, such as reduced costs and time efficiency, because this method does not require manual coding of open-ended responses. In this article, we investigate whether the insights gained into item functioning when implementing closed probes are comparable to the insights gained when asking open-ended probes and whether closed probes are equally suitable to capture the cognitive processes for which traditionally open-ended probes are intended. The findings reveal statistically significant differences with regard to the variety of themes, the patterns of interpretation, the number of themes per respondent, and nonresponse. No differences in number of themes across formats by sex and educational level were found.

scholarly journals Religious service attendance, divorce, and remarriage among U.S. nurses in mid and late life

PLoS ONE ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. e0207778 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shanshan Li ◽  
Laura D. Kubzansky ◽  
Tyler J. VanderWeele
Keyword(s):  
Late Life ◽  
Religious Service ◽  
Religious Service Attendance ◽  
Service Attendance
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