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Conducting cognitive interviews in cross-national settings.
1National Institute of Education, Singapore jihyun.lee@nie.edu.sg.
Assessment
|February 14, 2012
Summary
This study advocates semi-structured cognitive interviewing (SSCI) for cross-national survey pretesting. SSCI effectively addresses conceptual, measurement, procedural, and practical issues in diverse linguistic and cultural settings.
Area of Science:
- Survey methodology
- Cross-cultural research
- Qualitative research methods
Background:
- Cognitive interviewing (CI) is a crucial survey pretesting technique.
- Cross-national survey research presents unique challenges in validity and reliability.
- Existing CI methods may require adaptation for international contexts.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review cognitive interviewing (CI) as a survey pretesting method in cross-national settings.
- To advocate for semi-structured cognitive interviewing (SSCI) with direct probing for multi-country/language surveys.
- To discuss fundamental conceptual, measurement, procedural, and practical issues in cross-national CI.
Main Methods:
- Review of cognitive interviewing (CI) literature.
- Focus on semi-structured cognitive interviewing (SSCI) with direct probing.
- Analysis of conceptual, measurement, procedural, and practical issues in cross-national CI.
Main Results:
- SSCI is effective for evaluating validity, reliability, and cross-cultural equivalence informally.
- Identifies key procedural steps and practical considerations for implementing cross-national SSCI.
- Highlights methodological and practical limitations of the approach.
Conclusions:
- SSCI is a valuable tool for enhancing the quality of cross-national surveys.
- The method's applicability extends to diverse cultural groups within a single country.
- Adaptation of CI is essential for robust cross-cultural survey research.
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