Question Evaluation Methods: Contributing to the Science of Data Quality

Insightful observations on common question evaluation methods and best practices for data collection in survey research

Featuring contributions from leading researchers and academicians in the field of survey research, Question Evaluation Methods: Contributing to the Science of Data Quality sheds light on question response error and introduces an interdisciplinary, cross-method approach that is essential for advancing knowledge about data quality and ensuring the credibility of conclusions drawn from surveys and censuses. Offering a variety of expert analyses of question evaluation methods, the book provides recommendations and best practices for researchers working with data in the health and social sciences.

Based on a workshop held at the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), this book presents and compares various question evaluation methods that are used in modern-day data collection and analysis. Each section includes an introduction to a method by a leading authority in the field, followed by responses from other experts that outline related strengths, weaknesses, and underlying assumptions. Topics covered include:

• Behavior coding
• Cognitive interviewing
• Item response theory
• Latent class analysis
• Split-sample experiments
• Multitrait-multimethod experiments
• Field-based data methods

A concluding discussion identifies common themes across the presented material and their relevance to the future of survey methods, data analysis, and the production of Federal statistics. Together, the methods presented in this book offer researchers various scientific approaches to evaluating survey quality to ensure that the responses to these questions result in reliable, high-quality data.

Question Evaluation Methods is a valuable supplement for courses on questionnaire design, survey methods, and evaluation methods at the upper-undergraduate and graduate levels. it also serves as a reference for government statisticians, survey methodologists, and researchers and practitioners who carry out survey research in the areas of the social and health sciences.

JENNIFER MADANS, PhD, is Associate Director for Science at the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). She has published numerous papers in the areas of health status measurement, chronic disease epidemiology, and aging.

KRISTEN MILLER, PhD, is Director of the Question Design Research Laboratory at the NCHS. She currently oversees the question evaluation research program and designs and implements research projects on data quality and comparability in the health sciences.

AARON MAITLAND, MS, is Statistician at the Question Design Research Laboratory at the NCHS, where he is the administrator of Q-Bank, the agency's online database of question evaluation reports for Federal surveys.

GORDON WILLIS, PhD, is a Cognitive Psychologist at the Applied Research Program in the Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences at the National Cancer Institute. Dr. Willis has more than twenty years of experience in planning, conducting, and reporting of all phases of cognitive laboratory research.