Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 27, 2026
10:26
Problem-Solving Before Instruction (PS-I): A Protocol for Assessment and Intervention in Students with Different Abilities
Published on: September 11, 2021
Cognitive interviews to test and refine questionnaires.
1School of Nursing, the University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78701, USA. agarcia@mail.nur.utexas.edu
Public Health Nursing (Boston, Mass.)
|November 19, 2011
Summary
Cognitive interviews improve survey data by identifying how respondents understand questions. This method enhances survey reliability and validity, crucial for accurate research findings.
Area of Science:
- Health Services Research
- Survey Methodology
- Psychometrics
Background:
- Survey data accuracy is threatened by misinterpretation of questions by respondents.
- Cognitive interviews are a qualitative method to identify comprehension issues in survey items.
Purpose of the Study:
- To describe methods for conducting cognitive interviews.
- To illustrate the application of cognitive interviews in revising a survey instrument.
- To highlight lessons learned from a case study using cognitive interviews.
Main Methods:
- Conducted cognitive interviews to explore respondent understanding of survey format, instructions, items, and response options.
- Used a case study involving the Diabetes Symptom Self-Care Inventory (DSSCI) for Mexican Americans.
- Analyzed interview responses to inform revisions of the survey instrument.
Main Results:
- Cognitive interviews revealed specific areas of misunderstanding in the DSSCI.
- Identified necessary revisions in the DSSCI's format, instructions, items, and translation.
- Demonstrated the practical application and benefits of cognitive interviewing in survey development.
Conclusions:
- Cognitive interviews are essential for detecting and resolving respondent comprehension problems.
- Incorporating cognitive interviews into survey development enhances measurement reliability and validity.
- Recommended practice for survey developers and revisers is to integrate cognitive interviews.
Related Concept Videos
01:17Cognitivism
Cognitive psychology emerged as a significant field in the mid-20th century. It focused on understanding humans' internal mental processes. This approach emphasizes how people perceive, remember, think, and solve problems—elements critical to human cognition.
Previously dominated by behaviorism, which prioritized observable behaviors and largely ignored mental processes, psychology transformed in the 1950s. Cognitive psychologists argue that understanding how we think and process information is...
Previously dominated by behaviorism, which prioritized observable behaviors and largely ignored mental processes, psychology transformed in the 1950s. Cognitive psychologists argue that understanding how we think and process information is...
01:17Cochran's Q Test
Cochran's Q Test is a nonparametric statistical test used to determine if there are potential differences in the outcomes of three or more related groups on a binary (yes/no) or dichotomous outcome. It is essentially an extension of the McNemar Test, which is limited to two related samples - Cochran's Q test can handle three or more related samples, making it more versatile in scenarios where subjects are measured under multiple conditions. The test statistic follows a Chi-Square distribution,...
02:16Surveys
Often, psychologists develop surveys as a means of gathering data. Surveys are lists of questions to be answered by research participants, and can be delivered as paper-and-pencil questionnaires, administered electronically, or conducted verbally. Generally, the survey itself can be completed in a short time, and the ease of administering a survey makes it easy to collect data from a large number of people.
01:22Self-Report Tests of Personality
Self-report inventories are objective personality assessments that use multiple-choice items or numbered scales, typically ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). They are often called Likert scales after Rensis Likert. These inventories are widely used due to their ease of administration and cost-effectiveness. One of the most prominent examples is the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI), initially developed in the 1940s to assess abnormal personality traits.
01:20Introduction to Cognitive Psychology
Cognitive psychology is the field of psychology dedicated to examining how people think. It attempts to explain how and why we think the way we do by studying the interactions among human thinking, emotion, creativity, language, and problem-solving, as well as other cognitive processes. Cognitive psychology studies how information is processed and manipulated in remembering, thinking, and knowing.
This field emerged in the mid-20th century, following a period dominated by behaviorism, which...
This field emerged in the mid-20th century, following a period dominated by behaviorism, which...
01:29Measures of Intelligence
Psychologists measure intelligence by using standardized tests that produce a score known as the intelligence quotient or IQ. To understand IQ tests, it's important to recognize the key principles behind their construction: validity, reliability, and standardization.
Validity refers to how well a test measures what it claims to measure. An intelligence test should accurately assess intelligence rather than another characteristic, like anxiety. Criterion validity is one way to evaluate this; it...
Validity refers to how well a test measures what it claims to measure. An intelligence test should accurately assess intelligence rather than another characteristic, like anxiety. Criterion validity is one way to evaluate this; it...