Setting the Stage for Cognitive Interviewing: First Principles of Questionnaire Design

2011 ◽  
pp. 12-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.S. Balza ◽  
R.N. Cusatis ◽  
S.M. McDonnell ◽  
M.A. Basir ◽  
K.E. Flynn

BACKGROUND: Cognitive interviewing is a technique that can be used to improve and refine questionnaire items. We describe the basic methodology of cognitive interviewing and illustrate its utility through our experience using cognitive interviews to refine a questionnaire assessing parental understanding of concepts related to preterm birth. METHODS: Cognitive interviews were conducted using current best practices. Results were analyzed by the multidisciplinary research team and questionnaire items that were revealed to be problematic were revised. RESULTS: Revisions to the questionnaire items were made to improve clarity and to elicit responses that truly reflected the participants understanding of the concept. CONCLUSION: Cognitive interviewing is a useful methodology for improving validity of questionnaire items, we recommend researchers developing new questionnaire items design and complete cognitive interviews to improve their items and increase confidence in study conclusions.


1998 ◽  
Vol 93 (6) ◽  
pp. 947-954 ◽  
Author(s):  
C.J. ADAM ◽  
S.J. CLARK ◽  
M.R. WILSON ◽  
G.J. ACKLAND ◽  
J. CRAIN

1998 ◽  
Vol 77 (4) ◽  
pp. 1063-1075
Author(s):  
W. C. Mackrodt, E.-A. Williamson, D. W

Methodology ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 123-128 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gordon Willis ◽  
Hennie Boeije

Based on the experiences of three research groups using and evaluating the Cognitive Interviewing Reporting Framework (CIRF), we draw conclusions about the utility of the CIRF as a guide to creating cognitive testing reports. Authors generally found the CIRF checklist to be usable, and that it led to a more complete description of key steps involved. However, despite the explicit direction by the CIRF to include a full explanation of major steps and features (e.g., research objectives and research design), the three cognitive testing reports tended to simply state what was done, without further justification. Authors varied in their judgments concerning whether the CIRF requires the appropriate level of detail. Overall, we believe that current cognitive interviewing practice will benefit from including, within cognitive testing reports, the 10 categories of information specified by the CIRF. Future use of the CIRF may serve to direct the overall research project from the start, and to further the goal of evaluation of specific cognitive interviewing procedures.


Methodology ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 104-112 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel Vis-Visschers ◽  
Vivian Meertens

We used the Cognitive Interviewing Reporting Framework (CIRF) to restructure the report of a pretest on a European health survey questionnaire. This pretest was conducted by the Questionnaire Laboratory of Statistics Netherlands, and the original report was written according to a standard Statistics Netherlands format for pretesting reports. This article contains the rewritten report with highlights from the case study. The authors reflect on the process of rewriting and the usefulness of the CIRF. We conclude that expanded use of the CIRF as a reporting format for articles on cognitive pretests would enhance international comparability, completeness, and uniformity of research designs, terminology, and reporting. A limitation of the CIRF is that it does not provide an exhaustive list of items that could be included in a report, but it is more a “minimal standard”: that is a report on how a cognitive pretest was conducted should at least contain a description of the CIRF items.


1997 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 173-174
Author(s):  
Terri Gullickson
Keyword(s):  

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