UNASSIGNED: Current knowledge about the causes of offending behavior is heavily reliant on self-reports of offending (SRO). However, methodological research on the impact of modes of administration on SRO is very scarce. Further, the existing evidence conflicts with the general knowledge about responding to sensitive questions. In this study, we aimed to test whether SRO are affected by modes of administration.
UNASSIGNED: We carried out a methodological experiment, with a 2 (interviewer-administered vs. self-administered surveys) × 2 (paper-and-pencil vs. computer- assisted surveys) factorial design. A total of 181 undergraduate students were randomly assigned to one of these conditions and completed the International Self-Report Delinquency 3 (ISRD3) questionnaire.
UNASSIGNED: Findings showed an increased odds of reporting offending behavior in self-administered surveys, compared to face-to-face interviews. Paper-and-pencil and computer-assisted modes resulted in comparable estimates of offending.
UNASSIGNED: This experiment provides evidence that SRO provide more accurate estimates of offending behavior using self-administered surveys.

A lot of information used in aging research relies on self-reports. Surveys or questionnaires are used to assess quality of life, attitudes toward aging, experiences of aging, subjective well-being, symptomatology, health behaviors, financial information, medication adherence, etc. Growing evidence suggests that older and younger respondents are differentially affected by questionnaire features and the cognitive tasks that question answering pose. This research has shown that age-related changes in cognitive and communicative functioning can lead to age-related differences in self-reports that are erroneously interpreted as real age differences in attitudes and behaviors. The current review highlights how the processes underlying respondents\' self-report change as a function of respondents\' age; it updates our previous reviews of this literature.

\"In 1989-90, a three-stage national survey was conducted [in the United States]...to identify those households in which the respondents did not report their religion as Jewish but which contained any persons (including the respondent) who \'considered\' themselves Jewish, who were raised Jewish, or who had a Jewish parent.... This paper evaluates the extent to which the...different forms of Jewish attachment produce sub-populations with varying socio-demographic characteristics and the degree to which inclusion or exclusion of particular sub-groups affects the overall size and composition of the aggregate Jewish population.\" This paper was originally presented at the 1991 Annual Meeting of the Population Association of America.

The author critically examines the 1987 census conducted in West Germany and proposes changes to the questionnaire, the way it is administered, and the tabulation and publication of census results.

Sociologists designed a random sampling study based on an adaptation of the Housing Unit Method and the local expert method to determine the socioeconomic features of a 3 unincorporated rural communities near Yucca Mountain, Nevada which scientists will use to conduct a comprehensive impact analysis of the proposed geologic nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, about 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas. Electrical company representatives indicated the location and type of housing with all up to date electrical connections in southern Nye county. This information was included in the housing unit file made from utility records from each community. After determining the sample size needed, households were randomly chosen from each file (326 Amargosa Valley, 672 Beatty, and 3224 Pahrump). Meter readers from the local utility companies were the local experts. 2 local experts worked together to authenticate the accuracy of recorded data which included number of person in the household as of July 15, 1990 and age and gender of each member. Data accuracy was tested and it was found that the 1990 US Census counts were within the relatively narrow 95% confidence intervals. The mean width was 7.2% of the estimated population, thus the estimates were meaningful. The estimates were too low for Pahrump (7190 vs. 7425) and Amargosa Valley (841 vs. 853), however. This may have been due to recent in-migration from the Las Vegas Valley. Age and gender accuracy could not be tested since the 1990 census data were not yet ready. Nevertheless, it is believed that this procedure can obtain very accurate estimates.

To obtain more accurate accounts of sexual attitudes and practices, researchers must explore innovative ways to overcome the reluctance of individuals to disclose sensitive and perhaps incriminating information about themselves. The differences among selected modes of inquiry and survey techniques used to gather self-reports about sensitive contraceptive behaviors among young adults were examined in this study. Comparisons were made between the randomized response versus the direct-inquiry survey techniques and personal interview versus self-administered modes of inquiry relative to the reporting of sensitive condom-related sexual practices of 352 students at a large northeastern university. Findings indicated that the \"controlled-choice\" randomized-response technique was less effective in obtaining self-reports about condom-related practices than were direct-inquiry techniques. Recommendations for investigations are proposed.
352 students at a large American northeastern state university were randomly selected from intact college classes to rank 15 sensitive condom-related items. 257 students actually participated. 53% of the 257 students were women; 55% were non-health-related majors (education, policy, communications) and 45% were health-related majors (health education, health policy, nursing, family studies, and physical education). The subjects in the original sample were randomly assigned to distinct treatment groups: Group 1 (n = 76) self-administered direct inquiry, Group 2 (n = 76) self-administered randomized response, Group 3 (n = 100) face-to-face interview direct inquiry, and Group 4 (n = 100) face-to-face interview randomized response. Subjects in each group completed 15 items on a questionnaire concerning their condom-related practices. Perceived item sensitivity was assessed by a follow-up survey of 60 randomly selected subjects from the original sample. The subjects rated the sensitivity of each item on a 5-point scale anchored by extremely sensitive (5) through neutral (3) to extremely innocuous (1). 60% of the 15 survey items were given below average ratings with respect to sensitivity. Only 40% of the items received a mean rating above 3 (range = 2.7-3.8). The mean behavior score in the randomized response group (M = 4.1, standard deviation [SD] = 2.8) was significantly lower than the mean behavior for the two direct inquiry groups (M = 5.6, SD = 1.8, p or= .05). Subjects in the direct inquiry groups reported engaging in unprotected or socially stigmatized sexual behaviors more frequently than did subjects in the randomized response group. The controlled choice randomized response technique may be less effective than the conventional direct inquiry technique in obtaining self-reports of condom-related behaviors among college students. The direct inquiry methods are more suitable for populations such as college students who may not be threatened by sensitive survey inquiry.

This letter argues how a previously published case-control (Horwitz et al.) study of estrogens and endometrial cancer illustrates how bias can arise in case-control studies when the proportion of interviews completed is related both to exposure and to disease. In the Horwitz study, 2 series were reported: 1 obtained from interview and 1 obtained from medical data. The odds ratios obtained from each of these series were similar, but a combined odds ratio produced very different results. Horwitz attributed this to a confounding factor not taken into account, but the letter writer argues that bias was introduced because of the incompleteness of the interview series where both exposure and disease were related. For example, in the conventional series, the interview rate in cases was higher for the exposed (91%) than the unexposed (61%), whereas in controls the reverse was true; in the alternative series, effect of modification was also present but to a much smaller degree, so the difference in odds ratio was correspondingly smaller. In sum, merely taking a subject as exposed if so reported in either data source should be avoided to prevent bias.

This report details the methods the authors used to conduct the Cancer and Steroid Hormone Study, a multicenter, population-based, case-control study of oral contraceptive use in relation to breast, endometrial, and ovarian cancer diagnosed during 1980-1982. The authors have documented their methods and rationale, and the results of their data collection efforts as a practical guide for the planning and conduct of large case-control studies. They observed the following: 1) the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results program is a useful epidemiologic resource for identifying cases from which to evaluate risk factors for cancer in the United States; 2) random digit dialing is an effective and efficient method for screening for eligible controls for a population-based study; 3) with the cooperation of community pathologists, histologic specimen slides can be retrieved and reviewed for diagnostic confirmation and histologic subclassification of cancer for greater than 95% of the cases interviewed; and 4) data reported during personal interviews of study participants can be validated by reviewing medical records for more than 75% of study participants who reported medical events that occurred during the 10 years before the beginning of the study.
This study, a detailed report of the methods used to conduct the Cancer and Steroid Hormone study, is presented in order to aid other researchers in designing and carrying out multicenter case-control studies. Data collection for the study was carried out by the Division of Reproductive Health of the Centers for Disease Control in 8 locations: Atlanta, Detroit, San Francisco, Seattle, Connecticut, Iowa, New Mexico, and Utah. Case ascertainment, interviewing, and retrieval of pathology slides and medical records were carried out by the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results centers of the National Cancer Institute. Cases were women, aged 20-54, newly diagnosed for breast, ovarian or endometrial cancer between December 1, 1980, and December 31, 1982 -- 20 years after the 1st sales of oral contraceptives in the US. Controls were women aged 20-54, selected by random digit dialing of households with telephones. 1 control was selected for each breast cancer case of matching age and geographic location. Interviewers were trained and administered standardized questionnaires to determine medical, reproductive, and oral contraceptive use histories. To aid in accuracy of recall, respondents recorded dates of major life events in a women\'s health study calendar. They were also given color photographs of all oral contraceptives marketed in the US. Field personnel collected slides of ovarian and endometrial cancers. Slides of benign breast lesions reported by both cases and controls were collected, as were medical records of women who reported diagnoses of infertility or loss of one or both ovaries. 80% of the breast cancer cases, 70% of the ovarian, and 74% of the endometrial cancer cases were interviewed, as were 83% of the controls. Only 2%, 7%, and 6% of the interviews for the breast, ovarian, and endometrial cancers respectively failed to match the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results data. Retrieval for expert review of the pathology slides of recently diagnosed ovarian or endometrial cancer was 97% and 95%. Retrieval of pathologic proof of benign breast disease, infertility diagnoses, and ovary removal was high for the period after 1970 but low for conditions reported to have occurred before 1950. The study concludes that Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results tumor registry records are an excellent source for cancer epidemiology data; that random digit dialing is an effective source of controls; that histologic specimen slides can be retrieved to confirm over 95% of cancer cases interviewed; and that data reported during interviews can be substantiated by medical records for over 75% of study participants.

The discrepancies between the findings of the 6 large case-control studies to study the association between oral contraceptive (OC) use and breast cancer diagnosed in the 1980s may be due to chance or bias. The likelihood that chance played a role is suggested by the large numbers of subgroups examined in each study, the inconsistencies in the findings of different studies, and the wide confidence intervals around most of the relative risks. The most serious potential problem in case-control studies is that the procedures used to select cases and controls may produce groups that are not truly comparable. Recall bias is likely to contaminate information about the duration and type of part OC use. In addition, the more frequent examination of the breasts of women using OCs can produce surveillance bias. 6 procedures are recommended to minimize bias in future case-control studies of OC use and breast cancer: 1) whenever possible, cases and controls should be selected from an entire community; 2) if hospital controls need to be used, there should be explicit criteria for selecting them and the proportions of OC users in each diagnostic group should be presented; 3) women interviewed should not be aware of the study\'s hypotheses; 4) interviewers should be kept blind as to whether a subject is a case or control; 5) the possibility of recall bias should be investigated by comparing contraceptive histories from a sample of cases and controls with an independent source of information (preferably recorded before cancers were diagnosed); and 7) the interview should include questions about the frequency of breast examinations, so that any effects of more frequent surveillance of OC users can be controlled for.

A rapid ethnographic assessment of barriers to health service utilization was conducted to identify maternal factors predicting use of child immunizations in Haiti. Methods included four focus group interviews, four natural group interviews, individual interviews with 14 health care providers and participant observation at vaccination posts. Analysis of qualitative data identified five categories of maternal factors associated with immunization use: competing priorities, low motivation, socioeconomic constraints, perceived accessibility of services, fears about health or social consequences and knowledge and folk beliefs related to vaccines. Selected variables among these factors were incorporated into a survey instrument designed to compare mothers of completely vaccinated children (cases) with mothers of incompletely vaccinated children (controls). The questionnaire was administered to 299 randomly selected mothers (217 cases, 82 controls). Bivariate and multivariate analyses found that of the factors identified through ethnographic research, only vaccine-related knowledge was significantly associated with immunization status. The utility and constraints of using ethnographic research for instrument development in epidemiological studies are discussed.
A rapid ethnographic assessment consisting of 4 focus groups, 4 natural group interviews, 14 provider interviews and participant observation rally posts was combined into a questionnaire which was tested by chi square for use in predicting which Haitian mothers utilize immunization services. The study population were mothers of 1800 children 12-23 months old in the Mirebalais Area Community Health program in the central highlands of Haiti. The program uses the rally post system, with teams visiting villages at 6-week intervals. Audio tapes and written notes were reduced to lists of all possible barriers to maternal utilization, and then regrouped into 16 categories, under 5 topics: competing priorities, lack of motivation, socioeconomic constraints, perceived accessibility of posts, fears of health consequences and knowledge of folk beliefs about vaccines. 22 questionnaire items were then developed, which were edited by the overall project director without input from the ethnographer. The questions were administered to 299 mothers, 82 with incompletely immunized, and 217 with completely immunized children. The questions which significantly predicted complete vaccination by bivariate analysis were knowledge of the name of 1 or more vaccines or illnesses, the recommended number of doses, and the correct age to begin vaccinations. It was likely that time demands from subsistence farming and income generating activities also affected service utilization, but the women probably interpreted the question on employment incorrectly.