Mode of Interview and Reporting of Sensitive Issues: Design and Implementation of Audio Computer-Assisted Self-Interviewing (From The Validity of Self-Reported Drug Use: Improving the Accuracy of Survey Estimates, P 366-382, 1997, Lana Harrison and Arthur Hughes, eds. - See NCJ 167339)

• NCJ Number: 167355
• Author(s): J T Lessler; J M O'Reilly
• Date Published: 1997
• Length: 17 pages
• Sale Source: National Institute on Drug Abuse; NCJRS Photocopy Services
• Publication Type: Issue Overview
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: DCC

Annotation

This article reviews established strategies for increasing the willingness of respondents to report stigmatizing behaviors, and compares them to a new technique, audio computer-assisted self-interviewing (audio-CASI).

Abstract

Substantial underreporting is typical in interviewing respondents on their drug use and other sensitive behaviors. Self-administered questionnaires and indirect questioning techniques have been shown to increase respondents' willingness to report stigmatizing behavior. However, these techniques require that the respondents be able to read, and to understand branching or contingent questions. Computer-assisted self-interviewing (CASI) and audio-CASI systems do not require literacy on the part of the respondent and avoid the difficulties of implementing complex instructions. These systems provide the same privacy enhancements of traditional self-administered questionnaires. In addition, audio-CASI allows researchers to ask questions in any language of any respondent who can see and hear, and is suitable for use in a variety of settings. Tables, notes, references