scholarly journals Interviewer Effects in Biosocial Survey Measurements

Field Methods ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1525822X2199723
Author(s):  
Alexandru Cernat ◽  
Joseph W. Sakshaug

Increasingly surveys are using interviewers to collect objective health measures, also known as biomeasures, to replace or supplement traditional self-reported health measures. However, the extent to which interviewers affect the (im)precision of biomeasurements is largely unknown. This article investigates interviewer effects on several biomeasures collected in three waves of the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP). Overall, we find low levels of interviewer effects, on average. This nevertheless hides important variation with touch sensory tests being especially high with 30% interviewer variation, and smell tests and timed balance/walk/chair stands having moderate interviewer variation of around 10%. Accounting for contextual variables that potentially interact with interviewer performance, including housing unit type and presence of a third person, failed to explain the interviewer variation. A discussion of these findings, their potential causes, and their implications for survey practice is provided.

2021 ◽  
Vol Publish Ahead of Print ◽  
Author(s):  
Brandon A. Ramo ◽  
Anna McClung ◽  
Chan-Hee Jo ◽  
James O. Sanders ◽  
Burt Yaszay ◽  
...  

1996 ◽  
Vol 86 (1) ◽  
pp. 52-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
J N Katz ◽  
L Punnett ◽  
B P Simmons ◽  
A H Fossel ◽  
N Mooney ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Nursafirah binti Ahmad Safian

ملخص البحث: تتناول هذه الدراسة البنية الفنية في رواية "Mandala Dunia Kedua" بمعنى (في إطار العالم الثاني) للكاتب الماليزي عزيزي الحاج عبد الله وتهدف إلى إظهار إبداعية الكاتب في صياغتها في روايته. تعتمد الباحثة في هذه الدراسة على الوصف والتحليل؛ إذ تقوم بتحليل العناصر الفنية الموجودة في الرواية المختارة مع التنويه بمظاهر الإبداع الفني فيها، أمثال: العنونة، والاستهلال، وبناء المكان والزمن، ورسم الشخصيات، والصراعات، وبناء الأحداث، والحبكة الفنية، والأساليب السردية، واللغة والحوار، والصور البيانية، والنهاية التي تختم الرواية. تحاول هذه الدراسة الإسهام في إثراء الدراسات النقدية في الأدب الماليزي، جنباً إلى جنب أنها تسهم في تعريف هذا النوع من الآداب لمجتمع العرب. ومما توصّلت إليه الباحثة من خلال هذه الدراسة أن الكاتب استخدم عنواناً مجازياً كما أنه وفّق في رسم الشخصيات وبناء الأحداث، على الرغم من أن الحبكة الفنية للرواية مفككة. ومن التقنيات السردية التي لجأ إليها الكاتب ضمير الغائب، والوصف، والاسترجاع، والتداعي، والحذف، والرسالة. وجدت الدراسة أيضاً أن الكاتب وظّف الصور البيانية كالتشبيه والمجاز والاستعارة في روايته بشكل واسع، كما أنه قارن الحياة الاجتماعية التي تعيش فيها كل من الأشجار والحيوانات بالحياة الاجتماعية التي يعيش فيها الناس المدنيون. وهذا يومئ إلى أن الكاتب دعا القراء إلى التأمل في حياة الأشجار والحيوانات وطبائعها بشكل غير مباشر.   الكلمات المفتاحية: الرواية –عزيزي الحاج عبد الله–البنية–المجتمع الملايوي.     Abstract   This study undertakes the aesthetical structure in the novel “Mandala Dunia Kedua” by a Malaysian writer Azizi Haji Abdullah that aims to identify his creativity in constructing his novel. The study is descriptive and analytical; it analyses selected aesthetical elements in the novel while explaining the creative features contained in them namely: the titling, the introduction, spatio-temporal construction, character building, conflicts, events formulation, plot development, narrative style, language and dialogue, imageries and the ending. This study intends to enrich critical studies in Malay literature while introducing this indigenous work to the Arabic reader. Among the conclusions of this study: the writer uses a figurative title and has successfully building the characters and developing the events, although that the plot seems to be scattered. Among the narrative techniques used by the writer are: third person pronoun, description, flashback, deconstruction, omission and message. He also use analogy and metaphor extensively. He also compares the ‘social’ life of trees and animal with that of civilized human, an implicit invitation to human to look into the life of these creations. Keywords: Novel – Azizi Haji Abdullah – Aesthetical Structure – The Titiwangsa Montain Range – Malay Society     Abstrak Kajian ini menumpukan kepada struktur estetika dalam novel “Mandala Dunia Kedua” oleh penulis Azizi Haji Abdullah dan bertujuan untuk mengenalpasti kreativiti beliau dalam membangunkan novel beliau. Kajian ini adalah deskriptif dan analitikal; ia menganalisa beberapa unsur estetika terpilih dalam novel tersebut sambil menerangkan beberapa unsur kreatif yang terdapat padanya seperti; penjudulan, pengenalan, pembinaan aspek masa dan tempat, pembinaan watak, konflik, formulasi kejadian, perkembangan plot, stail naratif, bahasa dan perbualan, gambaran dan pengakhiran. Kajian ini bertujuan untuk menambahkan lagi kajian kritikal dalam sastera Melayu di samping memperkenalkan karya tempatan kepada pembaca Arab. Di antara dapatan kajian ini ialah: penulis menggunakan judul yang figurative dan telah dengan jayanya membina watak dan mengembangkan kejadian, walaupun plotnya kelihatan berterabur. Di antara teknik naratif yang digunakan oleh penulis ialah: gantinama ketiga, perincian, imbasan kembali, dekonstruksi, pemadaman dan mesej. Beliau juga menggunakan perbandingan dan perlambangan secara meluas. Beliau juga membandingkan aspek sosial hidupnya pokok-pokok dan haiwan dengan kehidupan manusia; satu pelawaan yang tersirat kepada bangsa manusia agar melihat kehidupan kejadian-kejadian ini. Kata kunci: Novel – Azizi Haji Abdullah – Struktur Estetika – Banjaran Titiwangsa – Masyarakat Melayu.


Author(s):  
Christoph Kreer ◽  
Matthias Zehner ◽  
Timm Weber ◽  
Cornelius Rohde ◽  
Sandro Halwe ◽  
...  

SUMMARYThe SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has unprecedented implications for public health, social life, and world economy. Since approved drugs and vaccines are not available, new options for COVID-19 treatment and prevention are highly demanded. To identify SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies, we analysed the antibody response of 12 COVID-19 patients from 8 to 69 days post diagnosis. By screening 4,313 SARS-CoV-2-reactive B cells, we isolated 255 antibodies from different time points as early as 8 days post diagnosis. Among these, 28 potently neutralized authentic SARS-CoV-2 (IC100 as low as 0.04 μg/ml), showing a broad spectrum of V genes and low levels of somatic mutations. Interestingly, potential precursors were identified in naïve B cell repertoires from 48 healthy individuals that were sampled before the COVID-19 pandemic. Our results demonstrate that SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies are readily generated from a diverse pool of precursors, fostering the hope of rapid induction of a protective immune response upon vaccination.


2020 ◽  
pp. 073346482094408
Author(s):  
Alison R. Huang ◽  
Jennifer A. Deal ◽  
George W. Rebok ◽  
Jayant M. Pinto ◽  
Linda Waite ◽  
...  

Hearing impairment impacts fluidity of communication and social interactions and thus may contribute to loneliness. We investigated the cross-sectional association between hearing impairment and loneliness in community-dwelling older U.S. adults using data from the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project ( N = 3,196). Individuals reporting fair/poor hearing had 50% (95% confidence interval [CI] = [1.09–2.05]) higher odds of any loneliness compared with those reporting excellent hearing after adjusting for comorbidity index, functional and cognitive ability, self-reported health, and demographic characteristics. Test for trend suggests a dose–response relationship over levels of hearing impairment. Hearing impairment is highly prevalent and may be an important target for consideration in interventions to reduce loneliness. Further investigation of whether treatment of hearing impairment alleviates loneliness and its disabling effects is also needed.


2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 513-528
Author(s):  
A. A. Withagen-Koster ◽  
R. C. van Kleef ◽  
F. Eijkenaar

AbstractMost health insurance markets with premium-rate restrictions include a risk equalization system to compensate insurers for predictable variation in spending. Recent research has shown, however, that even the most sophisticated risk equalization systems tend to undercompensate (overcompensate) groups of people with poor (good) self-reported health, confronting insurers with incentives for risk selection. Self-reported health measures are generally considered infeasible for use as an explicit ‘risk adjuster’ in risk equalization models. This study examines an alternative way to exploit this information, namely through ‘constrained regression’ (CR). To do so, we use administrative data (N = 17 m) and health survey information (N = 380 k) from the Netherlands. We estimate five CR models and compare these models with the actual Dutch risk equalization model of 2016 which was estimated by ordinary least squares (OLS). In the CR models, the estimated coefficients are restricted, such that the under-/overcompensation for groups based on self-reported general health is reduced by 20, 40, 60, 80, or 100%. Our results show that CR can improve outcomes for groups that are not explicitly flagged by risk adjuster variables, but worsens outcomes for groups that are explicitly flagged by risk adjuster variables. Using a new standardized metric that summarizes under-/overcompensation for both types of groups, we find that the lighter constraints can lead to better outcomes than OLS.


2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zeinab Hosseini ◽  
Susan J. Whiting ◽  
Hassan Vatanparast

Background. Nutrition is an important factor that impacts health, yet in Canada, there have been only a few surveys reflecting dietary intakes. The Canadian Health Measures Survey (CHMS) is a national survey that includes both food intake data as targeted questions and objective health measures. The aim of this research was to determine how food group intake data reported in CHMS is related to food group intakes from Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) (2004). A secondary objective was to examine the dietary status of Canadians across sociodemographic levels. Methods. The CHMS Cycles 1 and 2 food group intake data (meat and alternatives; milk products; grains; vegetables and fruits; dietary fat consumption; and beverages) of Canadians (6–79 years, n=11,387) were descriptively compared to previously reported intake of Canadians from CCHS 2.2 in 2004. Further, Canadians’ food intakes were assessed across sociodemographic characteristics. Results. The CHMS dietary intake data from vegetables and fruits and from milk products groups were similar to the dietary intake reported from CCHS 2.2. For the other food groups, the difference in intakes suggested CHMS data by FFQ were not complete. However, similar patterns in food intakes with regards to age/sex and income were observed in both surveys. Conclusion. Not all food groups measured in CHMS provide complete dietary intake data as compared to CCHS 2.2, yet CHMS food group intakes provide valuable information when it comes to evaluating dietary intake across different population groups.


2010 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 40-47 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linsay Gray ◽  
Juan Merlo ◽  
Jennifer Mindell ◽  
Johan Hallqvist ◽  
Jean Tafforeau ◽  
...  

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