This Article Abstract Free Full Text (Free PDF) Free Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Isaksson, U. Articles by Åström, S. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Supporting the Very Old When Completing a Questionnaire

Risking Bias or Gaining Valid Results?

UmeÅ University, UmeÅ, Sweden

Regina Santamäki-Fischer

UmeÅ University, UmeÅ, Sweden

Björn Nygren

UmeÅ University, UmeÅ, Sweden

Berit Lundman

UmeÅ University, UmeÅ, Sweden

Sture Åström

UmeÅ University, UmeÅ, Sweden

The aim of this study was to elucidate the process of completing a questionnaire in a supportive face-to-face manner. A total of 12 participants, age 90 years or older, were asked to answer the Resilience Scale. The statements were read aloud and the participants answered verbally or by pointing to an enlarged copy of the reply form. Transcribed dialogues were analyzed by means of qualitative content analysis. Four types of dialogues were formulated: "Making a prompt decision," "Deciding after a pensive dialogue," "Deciding after an explanatory dialogue," and "Deciding after an encouraging dialogue." This article discusses risk for bias and ways to overcome the problem. The authors concluded that support via face-to-face interview in answering a questionnaire is valuable to obtaining valid data from very old persons.

Key Words: aged 80 and over • bias • face-to-face interviews • questionnaires • support

References

• Baltes, P.B. and P. Graf. 1996. "Psychological Aspects of Aging: Facts and Frontiers." Pp. 427—60 in The Lifespan Development of Individuals. Behavioural, Neurobiological, and Psychosocial Perspectives. A Synthesis, edited by D. Magnusson. New York: Cambridge University Press.
• Belli, R.F., P.S. Weiss, and J.M. Lepkowski. 1999. "Dynamics of Survey Interviewing and the Quality of Survey Reports: Age Comparisons." Pp. 303—25 in Cognition, Aging, and Self-Reports, edited by N. Schwarz and D. C. Park. Hove, UK: Psychology Press/Erlbaum (UK) Taylor & Francis.
• Bishop, G.F., A.J. Tuchfarber, and R.W. Oldendick. 1986. "Opinions on Fictitious Issues: The Pressure to Answer Survey Questions." Public Opinion Quarterly 50:240—50.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
• Bray, J., J. Powell, R. Lovelock, and I. Philip. 1995. "Using a Softer Approach: Techniques for Interviewing Older People." Professional Nurse 10:350—53.
• Coast, J., T.J. Peters, S.H. Richards, and D.J. Gunnell. 1998. "Use of the EuroQoL Among Elderly Acute Care Patients." Quality of Life Research 7:1—10.[CrossRef][Web of Science][Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
• Dempster, M. and M. Donnelly. 2000. "How Well Do Elderly People Complete Individualised Quality of Life Measures: An Exploratory Study." Quality of Life Research 9:369—75.[CrossRef][Web of Science][Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
• Domarad, B.R. and M.T. Buschmann. 1995. "Interviewing Older Adults: Increasing the Credibility of Interview Data." Journal of Gerontological Nursing 21:14—20.[Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
• Femia, E.E., S.H. Zarit, and B. Johansson. 2001. "The Disablement Process in Very Late Life: A Study of the Oldest-Old in Sweden." Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences 56:12—23.
• Folstein, M.F., S.E. Folstein, and P.R. McHugh. 1975. "`Mini-Mental State'. A Practical Method for Grading the Cognitive State of Patients for the Clinician." Journal of Psychiatric Research 12:189—98.[CrossRef][Web of Science][Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
• French, K. 2003. "Methodological Considerations in Hospital Patient Opinion Surveys." International Journal of Nursing Studies 40:525—41.[CrossRef][Web of Science][Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
• Gibson, D.M. and W. Aitkenhead. 1983. "The Elderly Respondent: Experiences From a Large-Scale Survey of the Aged." Research on Aging 5:283—96.[Abstract]
• Graneheim, U.H. and B. Lundman. 2004. "Qualitative Content Analysis in Nursing Research: Concepts, Procedures and Measures to Achieve Trustworthiness." Nurse Education Today 24:105—12.[CrossRef][Web of Science][Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
• Herlitz, A., R. Adolfsson, L. Backman, and L.G. Nilsson. 1991. "Cue Utilization Following Different Forms of Encoding in Mildly, Moderately, and Severely Demented Patients With Alzheimer's Disease." Brain and Cognition 15:119—30.[CrossRef][Web of Science][Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
• Herlitz, A. and M. Viitanen. 1991. "Semantic Organization and Verbal Episodic Memory in Patients With Mild and Moderate Alzheimer's Disease." Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology 13:559—74.[Web of Science][Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
• Herzog, A.R. and L. Dielman. 1985. "Age Differences in Response Accuracy for Factual Survey Questions." Journal of Gerontology 40:350—7.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
• Jobe, J.B. and D.J. Mingay. 1990. "Cognitive Laboratory Approach to Designing Questionnaires for Surveys of the Elderly." Public Health Reports 105:518—24.[Web of Science][Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
• Jylhä, M. 1994. "Self-Rated Health Revisited: Exploring Survey Interview Episodes With Elderly Respondents." Social Science & Medicine 39:983—90.[CrossRef][Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
• Mallinson, S. 1998. "The Short-Form 36 and Older People: Some Problems Encountered When Using Postal Administration." Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 52:324—8.[Abstract]
• ______. 2002. "Listening to Respondents: A Qualitative Assessment of the Short-Form 36 Health Status Questionnaire." Social Science and Medicine 54:11—21.[CrossRef][Web of Science][Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
• McKinlay, J. 1992. "Advantages and Limitations of the Survey Approach: Some Problems and Challanges." Pp. 114—137 in Researching Health Care, edited by J. Daly, I. McDonald, and E. Willis. London: Tavistock.
• Mishler, E.G. 1986. Research Interviewing: Context and Narrative. London: Harvard University Press.
• Moore, J.C., L.L. Stinson, and E.J. Welniak Jr. 1999. "Income Reporting in Surveys: Cognitive Issues and Measurement Error." Pp. 155—76 in Cognition and Survey Research, edited by M. G. Sirken. New York: Wiley.
• Nygren, B., L. Alex, E. Jonsen, Y. Gustafson, A. Norberg, and B. Lundman. 2005. "Resilience, Sense of Coherence, Purpose in Life and Self-Transcendence in Relation to Perceived Physical and Mental Health Among the Oldest Old." Aging and Mental Health 9:354—62.[CrossRef][Web of Science][Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
• Patton, Q. 2002. Qualitative Evaluation Methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
• Pihlblad, C.T., H.A. Rosencranz, and T.E. McNevin. 1967. "An Examination of the Effects of Perceptual Frames of Reference in Interviewing Older Respondents." The Gerontologist 7:125—27.[Web of Science][Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
• Rodgers, W.L. and A.R. Herzog. 1987. "Interviewing Older Adults: The Accuracy of Factual Information." Journal of Gerontology 42:387—94.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
• Rodgers, W.L., R. Herzog, and F.M. Andrews. 1988. "Interviewing Older Adults: Validity of Self Reports of Satisfaction." Psychology and Aging 3:264—72.[CrossRef][Web of Science][Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
• Russell, C. 1999. "Interviewing Vulnerable Old People: Ethical and Methodological Implications of Imagining our Subjects." Journal of Aging Studies 13:403—17.[CrossRef][Web of Science][Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
• Steen, G., U. Sonn, A.B. Hanson, and B. Steen. 2001. "Cognitive Function and Functional Ability. A Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Study at Ages 85 and 95 in a Non-Demented Population." Aging Clinical and Experimental Research 13:68—77.[Web of Science]
• Tornstam, L. 1996. "Caring for the Elderly: Introducing the Theory of Gerotranscendence as a Supplementary Frame of Reference for Caring for the Elderly." Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences 10:144—50.[Web of Science][Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
• Wagnild, G.M. and H.M. Young. 1990. "Resilience Among Older Women." IMAGE: Journal of Nursing Scholarship 22:252—55.[CrossRef]
• ______. 1993. "Development and Psychometric Evaluation of the Resilience Scale." Journal of Nursing Measurement 1:165—78.[Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
• West, M., E. Bondy, and S. Hutchinson. 1991. "Interviewing Institutionalized Elders: Threats to Validity." Image-The Journal of Nursing Scholarship 23:171—6.[CrossRef]
• Wilde Larsson, B. 2000. "Does the Method of Data Collection Affect Patients' Evaluations of Quality of Care?" International Journal of Nursing Practice 6:284-291.[CrossRef]

Research on Aging, Vol. 29, No. 6, 576-589 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/0164027507305924


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This Article Abstract Free Full Text (Free PDF) Free Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Isaksson, U. Articles by Åström, S. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?