Cognitive Interviewing Methodology

AN INTERDISCIPLINARY PERSPECTIVE TO THE EVOLUTION OF THEORY AND METHODOLOGY WITHIN COGNITIVE INTERVIEW PROCESSES

Providing a comprehensive approach to cognitive interviewing in the field of survey methodology, Cognitive Interviewing Methodology delivers a clear guide that draws upon modern, cutting-edge research from a variety of fields.

Each chapter begins by summarizing the prevailing paradigms that currently dominate the field of cognitive interviewing. Then underlying theoretical foundations are presented, which supplies readers with the necessary background to understand newly-evolving techniques in the field. The theories lead into developed and practiced methods by leading practitioners, researchers, and/or academics. Finally, the edited guide lays out the limitations of cognitive interviewing studies and explores the benefits of cognitive interviewing with other methodological approaches. With a primary focus on question evaluation, Cognitive Interviewing Methodology also includes:

• Step-by-step procedures for conducting cognitive interviewing studies, which includes the various aspects of data collection, questionnaire design, and data interpretation
• Newly developed tools to benefit cognitive interviewing studies as well as the field of question evaluation, such as Q-Notes, a data entry and analysis software application, and Q-Bank, an online resource that houses question evaluation studies
• A unique method for questionnaire designers, survey managers, and data users to analyze, present, and document survey data results from a cognitive interviewing study

An excellent reference for survey researchers and practitioners in the social sciences who utilize cognitive interviewing techniques in their everyday work, Cognitive Interviewing Methodology is also a useful supplement for courses on survey methods at the upper-undergraduate and graduate-level.

Kristen Miller, PhD, is Director of the Questionnaire Design Research Laboratory, National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). She designs and implements research projects on data quality and comparability, question response, questionnaire design, and cognitive methods theory and methodology. Dr. Miller is a coeditor of Question Evaluation Methods: Contributing to the Science of Data Quality, also published by Wiley.

Stephanie Willson, PhD, is Senior Research Methodologist at the Questionnaire Design Research Laboratory, NCHS. Her research interests include the study of construct validity in survey questions and the methodological evaluation of cognitive interviewing, with particular emphasis on data collection and data analysis.

Valerie Chepp, PhD, is Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology at Hamline University. Dr. Chepp has 5 years of experience working as a research methodologist at the Questionnaire Design Research Laboratory, NCHS, and her research interests include cultural sociology, theories of inequality and social change, and qualitative research methods.

José-Luis Padilla, PhD, is Professor in the Department of Social Psychology at University of Granada, Spain. His research interests include cross-cultural psychology, psychometrics, and social research methods.