When and how to survey potential respondents is often determined by budgetary and external constraints, but choice of survey modality may have enormous implications for data quality. Different survey modalities may be differentially susceptible to measurement error attributable to interviewer assignment, known as interviewer effects. In this…

Compared face-to-face interviews with self-administered questionnaires as methods of data collection in a study of smoking attitudes and behavior conducted with 601 young Latina and African American women. Results show neither mode to provide superior results and indicate that cost effectiveness and convenience may be greater for the…

This study represents the first enumeration of the street homeless population in Canada. Past enumeration attempts have been challenged on their significant methodological shortcomings. This enumeration directly addressed the lessons learned from previous attempts, and improvements to the methodology are presented and discussed. In addition,…

This methodological study examines an original data collection model designed to incorporate human factors and enhance data richness in qualitative and evaluation research. Evidence supporting this model is drawn from in-depth youth and adult interviews in one of the largest policy/program evaluations undertaken in the United States, the Drug,…

An analytical technique is reviewed that allows a researcher to decompose informant reports into their respective trait, informant bias, and measure specificity using LISREL. The technique is illustrated in a study of decision making in 151 police agencies. (SLD)

Describes a method for coding themes directly from audiotapes without transcription and issues and methods by which reliability can be established. A study of concerns of professionals being trained on 11 school-based support teams coded by 2 raters and based on 19 hours of audiotaped interviews illustrates the method. (SLD)

The concept of "preevaluative research" is examined in the context of a museum exhibition evaluation. It is viewed as distinct from an evaluability assessment. The exhibit preevaluative study indicates that instrumentation and implementation issues are likely to benefit from such activities, but that design and analysis may suffer.…

During the winter and spring of 2003, the Survey Research Laboratory conducted a survey of residents of the Ida Wells and Madden Park housing developments on Chicago's near-south side. This article reviews existing research findings on using indigenous interviewers and reports the findings about the benefits and challenges of using residents as…

The interviewer's role in gaining access to an elite respondent through a gatekeeper was studied, with a focus on interviewer characteristics that lead to success in achieving interviews. Data from a national survey of 2,451 physicians indicate the importance of interviewer experience in bypassing gatekeepers. (SLD)

The Maryland Gun Violence Act, enacted into law in 1996, explicitly authorized courts to order batterers to surrender their firearms through civil protective orders. It also vested law enforcement with the explicit authority to remove guns when responding to a domestic violence complaint. In order to assess how these laws were implemented, we…

A study with follow-up interviews of services for homeless and mentally ill persons (original sample of 163) had a very high success rate of over 70% in tracking this difficult to locate population. Techniques for locating clients are presented, as identified by a focus group of five researchers. (SLD)

Naturalistic and traditional social science models were used to conduct a needs assessment in which 35 stakeholders were interviewed about their perceptions of the functioning of a crisis agency and the needs of the community and the agency. Concept mapping (multidimensional scaling and hierarchical analysis) was used to establish need categories…

Focus group findings were compared with survey findings for three studies in which both methods were used. Studies conducted on voluntary sterilization in Guatemala, Honduras, and Zaire with over 2,000 subjects confirm that focus groups yield information similar to that obtained from surveys and are useful in program planning. (SLD)

This study assessed the nature of response bias in a two-stage data-collection design (telephone interviews followed by a questionnaire mailing), which was used to examine the effectiveness of a state-level pharmaceutical assistance program for the elderly. Demographic and health factors affecting response (N=1,705 elderly persons) are discussed.…