Incorporating eye tracking into cognitive interviewing to pretest survey questions

In this study, we investigated whether incorporating eye tracking into cognitive interviewing is effective when pretesting survey questions. In the control condition, a cognitive interview was conducted using a standardized interview protocol that included pre-defined probing questions for about one-quarter of the questions in a 52-item questionnaire. In the experimental condition, participants’ eye movements were tracked while they completed an online version of the questionnaire. Simultaneously, their reading patterns were monitored for evidence of response problems. Afterward, a cognitive interview was conducted using an interview protocol identical to that in the control condition. We compared both approaches with regard to the number and types of problems they detected. We found support for our hypothesis that cognitive interviewing and eye tracking complement each other effectively. As expected, the hybrid method was more productive in identifying both questionnaire problems and problematic questions than applying cognitive interviewing alone.     

Research Synthesis: The Practice of Cognitive Interviewing

Cognitive interviewing has emerged as one of the more prominentmethods for identifying and correcting problems with surveyquestions. We define cognitive interviewing as the administrationof draft survey questions while collecting additional verbalinformation about the survey responses, which is used to evaluatethe quality of the response or to help determine whether thequestion is generating the information that its author intends.But beyond this general categorization, cognitive interviewingpotentially includes a variety of activities that may be basedon different assumptions about the type of data that are beingcollected and the role of the interviewer in that process. Thissynthesis reviews the range of current cognitive interviewingpractices, focusing on three considerations: (1) what are thedominant paradigms of cognitive interviewing—what is producedunder each, and what are their apparent advantages; (2) whatkey decisions about cognitive interview study design need tobe made once the general approach is selected (e.g., who shouldbe interviewed, how many interviews should be conducted, andhow should probes be selected), and what bases exist for makingthese decisions; and (3) how cognitive interviewing data shouldbe evaluated, and what standards of evidence exist for makingquestionnaire design decisions based on study findings. In consideringthese issues, we highlight where standards for best practicesare not clearly defined, and suggest broad areas worthy of additionalmethodological research.     

The Great Interview: 25 Strategies for Studying People in Bed

Interviewing is among the most central methods in social science research. While common as a method, there are identifiable characteristics that distinguish good interviews from outstanding ones. Great interviewing is deceptively difficult, partly because it is an acquired ability that takes time to develop, partly because people often remain bound to conventional norms of behavior while interviewing that precludes open access to the people interviewed. While several texts are available on interviewing, few of them venture to draw the explicit distinction among characteristics that separate ordinary from outstanding interviews. Consequently, a concise and accessible guidepost that directs people to the essentials of outstanding interviewing is difficult to find. Based on interviews with a range of people about varied subjects, the author offers 25 directions that will, when followed in combination, point the interviewer along the road from the good (or not-so-good) interview to the great interview.     

Demographic,personality, cognitive and behavioral correlates of off-course betting involvement

A large (n=381) exploratory survey of off-course bettors was conducted as a step towards rectifying deficits in current gambling literature. Information collected by interviews and questionnaires from off-course betting agency customers showed the level of betting involvement to be largely unrelated to demographic and cognitive variables and sensation seeking, but related to a variety of betting behaviors. A factor analysis produced three independent factors accounting for 30% of the variance. Loadings on these suggested an independence of items involved in the process of betting and those related to the control of betting behaviors, implying that non-pathological gambling involvement may be a reasonable goal for treatment programs.     

Enhancing Children's Memory Through Cognitive Interviewing: An Assessment Technique for Social Work Practice

The cognitive interview is a memory retrieval procedure consisting of four general retrievals mnemonics which was developed for eyewitnesses. Based on a sound theoretical framework, Geiselman et al. (1984) developed this technique to assist police officers in interviewing and interrogating witnesses. The cognitive interview has been accepted as one of the most successful interview techniques used in real-life investigations. This article will provide background of the current research on cognitive interviewing and will discuss the theoretical rationale for the use of the mnemonic strategies, the enhancement in the cognitive interviewing technique, and the modifications and revisions conducted from using the cognitive interview with children ages 7 to 12 years. The major conclusions drawn from the research are that the cognitive interview can enhance the completeness and accuracy of recollections by children and can offer a valuable technique for social workers interviewing and evaluating children who are victims or witnesses to crimes.     

Korean American Elderly's Knowledge and Perceptions of Elder Abuse

ABSTRACT

“This study examines Korean American elders” perceptions of elder abuse and its perpetrators and explores cultural, as well as non-cultural influences on such perceptions. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with 100 elderly Korean Americans, 60 years of age or older, residing in Los Angeles County. Respondents reported 46 abuse cases, categorized into the following six types: financial abuse (36%), psychological abuse (24%), culturally specific abuse (17%), neglect (15%), physical abuse (4%), and other (4%). Most respondents identified elder abuse in terms of abrogation of filial piety, suggesting the centrality of “children” in Korean American elders⁵ lives and well-being. Findings demonstrate that employing a uniform definition of elder abuse across all cultures and ethnic groups without attending to the cultural and subjective aspects of a given situation may result in missing problems and needs identified as important by the elderly themselves. Implications for social work practice and program development are discussed.     

Comparing results from different styles of cognitive interviewing: ‘verbal probing’ vs. ‘thinking aloud’

Two styles of cognitive interviewing exist, thinking aloud (TA) and verbal probing (VP), but there have been few studies undertaken which compare the two. This paper reports on such a comparison, which was undertaken in order to understand the merits and drawbacks of each approach. VP finds more problems than TA. TA appears to be better at examining respondents’ understandings of the underlying concepts behind each question; VP is better for exploring specific terms in each question. TA interviews appeared to generate more information about how respondents used information from their past experiences to select codes in closed‐ended questions. However, in terms of the eventual redrafting of the questions respondents were asked about, there was very little difference between the VP and TA interviews.     

Negotiating conflict within the constraints of social hierarchies in Korean American discourse

This paper provides an interactional account of conflict negotiation strategies in Korean American discourse. With specific attention to the sociolinguistic phenomenon of codeswitching among Korean Americans, I argue that speaking Korean at particular moments evokes ideologies of social hierarchy that serve to mitigate potential conflicts. The Korean social ideology of relative status has a major influence on how bilingual Korean Americans interact with one another, regardless of whether they are using Korean or English. The use of codeswitching, among other mitigating strategies in discourse, serves to instantiate these hierarchical relationships and introduces particular social norms that guide the observable actions used in navigating meaning and social relations. The data analyzed here show how the evocation of Korean social ideologies may serve as an identifiable characteristic of Korean American discourse.     

Interviewer Effect in a Survey of Drinking Practices*

This study investigates the relationship of interviewer characteristics to the responses of their interviewees in a survey in a relatively sensitive area—drinking practices. Generally, respondents seem to have reacted to easily ascertainable characteristics of the interviewers, such as sex, status (as measured by education, occupation, and clothing), and religion. The attitudes of the interviewer toward his interviewing were also related to respondents' reported drinking. It is concluded that interviewing is a social relationship of brief duration in which the respondent's performance reflects norms that tend to emerge based on the information each of the participants is able to learn about the other.     

Investigating Norms of Listening in Classrooms

Previous research into listening has tended to focus on individual processing rather than on how sociocultural contexts mediate the nature and quality of listening. This article draws on a study involving observations of listening lessons conducted by ten English teachers regarded as skilled practitioners, interviews with these teachers and with 40 of their students. It focuses on presenting interview findings which point to the need to take account in any discussion of listening of the varied and complex demands of social transactions and of the norms governing these transactions in particular classroom settings.     

Assessing Child Abuse Through Interviews of Children and Parents of Children at Risk

SUMMARY. Interviewing children and parents has been the subject of much controversy in recent years, with particular concern about techniques used. In this paper, the author takes a fundamental look at the philosophies and psychological assumptions which underlay much current interviewing practice. He identifies this as being primarily based on a cognitive neutral stance from the interviewer. These assumptions are questioned, particularly in relation to working with people from different cultures where different assumptions prevail. The article ends with some recommendations for improving interviewing approaches.     

Problems and Possibilities of Dialogue Across Cultures

In a liberal, democratic culturally plural society, it is to be expected that people will differ in their views of the good life and that they will proceed differently in cognitive, moral and political matters. This paper argues that, although the problems of inter-ethnic conflict, cultural or ethnic differences pose a challenge, they do not pose an insurmountable challenge to the possibilities of dialogue across cultures. Granting this, teachers and educators should be asking themselves: what positive conditions, norms and principles make dialogue across cultures possible and what can they do to promote those conditions, norms and principles. The paper assumes a context of diversity of cultural values and offers some guidelines for the conduct of dialogue across cultures. The assumption here is, that by being conscious of the successes and failures, aims and objectives, norms, principles and procedures of dialogue, teachers and other relevant individuals would be clearer about how to proceed in dialogue or discussion across cultures and what to expect from such dialogue.     

Scalar politics,language ideologies,and the sociolinguistics of globalization among transnational Korean professionals in Hong Kong

This paper argues that the sociolinguistics of globalization is accompanied by a constitutive scalar politics. Based on ten interviews with Korean professionals in Hong Kong, we report that Korean migrants’ use and experience of English is characterized by competing language ideologies we identify as: Pragmatic English/Perfect English, Multilingualism/English Only, and Global Language/Local Language. Tensions within these ideologies were revealed as respondents referenced the contexts of their daily lives as intersecting sets of geographic, temporal, and social scales. We discuss how sociolinguistic relations associated with the transnational lifecourse, hybridizing identity, and racialization were imagined in ways that re‐negotiated these scales to serve the interests of the participants and provide coherence to their communicative practices. Sociolinguistic relations both reference scales and constitute them. We conclude that attending to scales and scalar politics provides a better explanatory framework for the ways the uneven linguistics markets of globalization are negotiated by transnational subjects.     

Accounting for Sustained Volunteering by Young People: An Expanded TPB

This study tested an expanded TBP model, which included personal norms and self-identity as cognitive variables, in a sample of current young volunteers of a general charity in the UK. Actual volunteering was measured via continued observation throughout the duration of the projects. An integrative model of sustained volunteering was proposed because some relationships did not follow the hypothesized paths. Subjective norm emerged as the exclusive determinant of sustained volunteering and also as the potential mediator of the effects of other variables over future volunteering behavior. Two focus groups with volunteers and 28 personal interviews with the coordinators of the volunteering projects were conducted to triangulate the research findings and reveal the main causes for drop-outs and non-attendance.     

Police interviews of sexual assault reporters: do attitudes matter?

Sexual assault is underreported in the United States. Survivors are often reluctant to make police reports for various reasons; one is fear of revictimization by criminal justice professionals. Conversely, police officers often lack skills for interviewing crime victims. Posttraumatic stress reactions among victims can exacerbate the problem. Although some victims prefer female interviewers, it is not known whether they are more skilled. A sample of 429 police officers completed a written survey testing their rape myth acceptance and knowledge of how to interview rape reporters. A significant relationship between rape myth acceptance and interviewing skill was discovered. Although officer gender was related to interviewing skill, the effect was mediated by rape myth acceptance. Specific officer behaviors related to high rape myth acceptance were identified. Implications for selection of police to conduct victim interviews were discussed.     

Is an Independent Self a Requisite for Asian Immigrants' Psychological Well-Being in the U.S.? The Case of Korean Americans

Summary

This study examined the effect of both independent and interdependent self-construals on Asian immigrants' psychological well-being in the U.S., using a community sample of adult Koreans. Given that society rewards certain behaviors and attitudes that are consistent with the valued social norms, an independent view of self that matches the expectation of American society was hypothesized to promote Korean immigrants' psychological well-being. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that Korean immigrants with a highly independent self-construal expressed significantly less depressive symptoms and significantly more life satisfaction than those with a less independent self-construal. Furthermore, as was also expected, an interdependent view of self that is valued in many Asian cultures did not hinder Korean immigrants' psychological well-being, controlling for the correlates of these immigrants' mental health and self-construals. The results underscore the importance of self-conceptions in cross-cultural adaptation, and suggest the need of future research focusing on the potential benefits of both types of self-construal for Asian immigrants in the U.S.     

The role of impulsivity,cognitive bias,and reasoned action in understanding college student gambling

Factors related to gambling behavior among college students in the USA are examined by applying the theory of reasoned action (TRA) and incorporating the concepts of impulsivity and cognitive bias. This study uses a broader approach to analyze gambling behavior by including financial behavior variables using ordinary least squares (OLS) and logistic regressions. The survey data were collected through a self-administered online questionnaire of college students from 19 colleges and universities in the fall of 2010. With a sample of 5024 college students, a majority of the respondents (84.45%) in this study report that they did not gamble in the last 30 days. The results of multivariate analysis indicate that gambling is related to attitudes toward gambling, cognitive bias toward gambling, subjective norms of family members regarding financial behavior, and impulsivity. Underestimation of financial behavior (cognitive bias toward financial behavior) was found to be associated with only gambling frequency but not gambling propensity.     

Burnout and Secondary Trauma Among Forensic Interviewers of Abused Children

This study examined factors associated with burnout and secondary trauma among forensic interviewers of abused children. Sixty-six forensic interviewers who are affiliated with advocacy centers across the United States completed an online survey. The Oldenburg Burnout Inventory and Secondary Traumatic Stress Scale were used to measure burnout and secondary trauma, respectively. Results indicate that organizational satisfaction has a moderate inverse relationship with burnout and a slight inverse relationship with secondary trauma. The number of forensic interviews conducted or length of employment in forensic interviewing did not have a strong relationship with either burnout or secondary trauma.     

From Wallflowers to Lonely Trees: Divorced Ultra-Orthodox Women in Israel

The issue of divorced women in the Israeli ultra-Orthodox Jewish community represents an important case in the study of divorced women in religious collective cultures. The unique nature of the ultra-Orthodox Israeli community, dealing with questions of segregation and internalization, conservatism and modernity, as well as inequality of women, might contribute to our understanding of divorcees in such cultures. This article sheds light on the internal process that divorced women undergo. Sixty-one phenomenological in-depth interviews were conducted with 4 groups (divorced women, divorced men, daughters of divorced parents, and professionals who deal with divorce with the ultra-Orthodox community). Results show a distinctive process of individuation that these women undertake, reflecting a fundamental tension between their inner individual perceptions and collective cultural norms. Conclusions suggest that divorced women in collective cultures are able to perform antinormative acts and still find a complex, dualistic way to be integral members of their communities.