Calendar Survey Methods: Verbal Behavior and Computer Applications

在社会科学领域进行的调查依赖于回顾性报告的质量，以提供对社会、经济和卫生动态的有效估计。基于传统标准化问卷表（Q-list）方法的回忆测量表明，对于发生在更遥远的过去的事件，回顾性报告中的回答错误变得相当明显。与Q-list方法相比，事件历史日历（EHC）问卷调查方法在提高回顾性报告质量方面具有相当大的潜力。具体而言，本项目将1)评估认知和交际过程对通过Q-list和EHC访谈方法获得的回顾性报告质量的影响。这些过程将通过采访者和被调查者的语言行为来进行检验，这些行为是由500个纸笔Q-list和EHC访谈的录音编码而成的，特别关注采访者的提示策略和被调查者的检索策略。2)在语言行为分析的基础上，开发一个2年的参考期计算机辅助访谈EHC （CAI-EHC）来测量2003年收入动态小组研究（PSID）生产访谈中使用的关键人口、健康和经济变量。3)使用CAI-EHC版本进行可用性和认知测试，评估和改进访谈者与仪器之间的界面，以及仪器的认知效能。4)通过对自传体记忆结构的额外发现，为认知科学文献做出贡献。信息的传播是这个项目教育目标的一部分。语言行为编码和可用性测试的重要发现将在教育环境、专业会议和出版物中展示。EHC访谈的认知方面将被引入调查方法学课程。CAI-EHC访谈方法软件的开发将以合理的收费向公众开放。最终，CAI-EHC访谈可能成为在调查中收集回顾性报告的最佳选择，提高社会科学家对生命历程建模的能力，以及政府机构根据调查数据制定健全的社会政策的能力。

Surveys conducted in the social sciences depend on the quality of retrospective reports to provide valid estimates of social, economic, and health dynamics. Recall measures based on conventional standardized questionnaire list (Q-list) approaches have shown that response errors in retrospective reports become considerably more pronounced with events that have occurred in the more distant past. An Event History Calendar (EHC) questionnaire methodology has considerable potential toward improving the quality of retrospective reports in comparison to Q-list methods. Specifically, this project will 1) assess the impact of cognitive and communicative processes on the quality of retrospective reports that are obtained by Q-list and EHC interviewing methodologies. These processes will be examined through measures of interviewer and respondent verbal behaviors as coded from 500 audiotaped interviews of paper and pencil Q-list and EHC interviews, with particular attention focusing on the cueing strategies of interviewers and the retrieval strategies of respondents. 2) Partly based on the verbal behavior analyses, develop a 2-year reference period Computer Assisted Interviewing EHC (CAI-EHC) to measure key demographic, health, and economic variables that will be used in production interviews of the 2003 Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID). 3) Conduct usability and cognitive tests with CAI-EHC versions to assess and improve the interface between interviewers and the instrument, and the cognitive efficacy of the instrument. 4) Contribute to the cognitive science literature through additional discoveries concerning the structure of autobiographical memory.The dissemination of information is part of the educational goals of this project. Significant findings from the verbal behavior coding and usability tests will be presented in educational settings, at professional meetings, and through publication. The cognitive aspects of EHC interviewing will be introduced into the curricula of courses in survey methodology. Developments of the CAI-EHC interviewing methodology software will be publicly available for a reasonable charge. Ultimately, CAI-EHC interviewing may become the best state-of-the-art choice for the collection of retrospective reports in surveys, improving the ability of social scientists to model the life course and of governmental agencies to initiate sound social policies that are based on survey data.