NCVS-CS COGNITIVE INTERVIEW PROTOCOL
COGNITIVE INTERVIEW PROTOCOL
Date:_______________ Time_____ ID #:_____Interviewer Initials:_______________
Introduction
Thank you for taking the time to help us out today. The session will take approximately 1 to 1 ½ hours. I’ll give you a little background about what we’ll be doing today.
Westat is working on this project for the Bureau of Justice Statistics. We are testing a paper questionnaire that may be used for the National Crime Victimization Survey. The NCVS is administered every year nationwide and collects information on crime victimization. Westat is developing a paper questionnaire that will help the NCVS be administered in more efficient ways.
Today, I’ll ask you to first complete the questionnaire, working at your own pace as if you were doing this at home. I’ll watch what you are doing and we will talk about your answers and what they mean when you are finished. We would also like to read some of the survey letters that we will be sending out.
When you finish, we will go through the survey together and I’ll ask you some questions about your answers and how you arrived at your answers. We need to make sure that people understand the question and that these are questions that people are willing to answer. This will help us improve the questionnaire.
This is a research project and your participation is voluntary. You can skip any question and you can stop at any point. We would very much appreciate your permission to audio record this conversation. The recording will be used for note-taking purposes only and will be destroyed when the project is over. When we are finished, we have 40 dollars for you in gratitude for your assistance. There are no right or wrong answers – we are interested in everything you have to say and we encourage you to speak openly about the questions and your answers. Please sign the research consent form (that says everything I just said).
Consent Process
Hand the consent form to participant, answer any questions, and obtain consent before continuing.
Do you have any questions before we get started?
[Start recorder and get oral permission to record.] It is [DATE AND TIME], do I have your permission to audio record this conversation? ~~~~ Thank you.
ASK RESPONDENT TO START COMPLETING THE SCREENER.
Here is the questionnaire and a pen.
Please complete the questionnaire as if it had come in the mail and you were home alone filling it out.
The Debriefing
interviewer instructions
DURING THE DEBRIEFING – STATE THE QUESTION NUMBER SO ANY OBSERVERS AND THE RECORDING KNOW AT ALL TIMES WHICH QUESTION IS BEING DISCUSSED.
WRITE COMMENTS ON THE RESPONDENTS QUESTIONNAIRE. WRITING ON THE RESPONDENT’S QUESTIONNAIRE CREATES A COMPLETE DOCUMENT OF THE INTERVIEW.
IF RESPONDENT ASKS A QUESTION – STATE THE QUESTION NUMBER THAT THE RESPONDENT IS ASKING ABOUT AND SIMPLY SAY:
What makes you ask that?
Can you say more about that?
WHEN THE RESPONDENT HAS COMPLETED THE QUESTIONNAIRE, Review all answers. Point to the answer and say:
What does this answer means?
Can you say more about that?
IF THE RESPONDENT MAKES A MISTAKE (NAVIGATION, SKIP, CHANGED ANSWER, ETC): POINT TO THE MISTAKE AND ASK:
What happened here?
Can you say more about that?
FOR PLACES WHERE RESPONDENT DISPLAYED DIFFICULTY, CONFUSION, OR ANY “EXPRESSION”:
You seemed to hesitate here at Q___. What were you were thinking about?
You had a look on your face when you were reading this questions.
Can you tell me what you were thinking?
You just said that you ~~~. Can you say more about that?
You mentioned the ~~~~ ; how did that work for you?
Global Issues: Content, Response Propensity, and Sensitivity
Now that you have finished the questionnaire, but before we talk about your individual answers, let’s talk about some things in general.
Can you say in your own words what the questionnaire is about?
Was there anything that felt a little odd or not so good to answer?
Was there anything that you really didn’t want to answer or that felt a bit inappropriate or were all the questions completely fine?
Was there anything that would be a show stopper for you?
Who is this survey about?
Who do you think should respond to this survey?
Question by Question Probes
APPROACH 1 – INCIDENT LEVEL INSTRUMENT
IS THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN “PERSONAL CRIMES” AND “THEFTS/BREAK-INS” CLEAR?
EXPLORE HOW THE RESPONDENT USED THE HOUSEHOLD MATRIX AND HOW THEY USED IT WHEN ANSWERING CRIME QUESTIONS. EASY/HARD TO ASSIGN PERSON #S? DID R INCLUDE THE RIGHT FOLKS IN THE MATRIX? WHAT WOULD R DO IF THERE WERE 5 OR MORE ADULTS IN THE HH? DID R LIST SELF AS PERSON 1?
DID RESPONDENT NOTICE THAT ‘D’ ASKED ABOUT 18 AND ABOVE?
IS THE DEFINITION OF A PERSONAL CRIME CLEAR?
AT QUESTION 1, WHO WAS THE R THINKING OF? ALL HHMs? 18 AND ABOVE? SOMETHING ELSE?
QUESTION 2 – IS THE USE OF THE WORD “ATTEMPT” CLEAR? WHAT WOULD COUNT AS AN “ATTEMPT”?
QUESTIONS 1-3 – DOES THE R THINK S/HE WOULD KNOW THE ANSWER TO THESE FOR OTHER HHMs?
QUESTION 4 – WHAT WOULD COUNT AS “MOST RECENT”?
QUESTION 5 – WAS THIS EASY TO ANSWER? WHY/WHY NOT?
QUESTION 6 – DOES R FEEL THERE IS SUFFICIENT ROOM TO WRITE? WHAT DID R THINK THEY SHOULD WRITE ABOUT?
QUESTION 7 – WHAT COUNTS AS “NEIGHBORHOOD”? WHAT ABOUT “LOCAL AREA”?
QUESTION 15 – WHAT COUNTS AS A “SEXUAL ASSAULT”?
QUESTION 16 – ANY TERMS THAT MIGHT BE UNCLEAR TO SOME RESPONDENTS?
QUESTION 25 – ASK ABOUT DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE FIRST TWO CATEGORIES (WHEN WOULD THE SECOND CATEGORY BE USED?)
QUESTION 26 – SEE WHETHER THE RESPONDENT REMEMBERS WHAT A “PERSONAL CRIME” IS
QUESTION 27 – WHAT WOULD COUNT AS “NEXT MOST RECENT”?
IF R HAD MULTIPLE INCIDENTS, HOW EASY/HARD TO KEEP THE “ORDER” IN MIND? WHAT IF MORE RECENT EVENTS WERE LESS SEVERE AND “OLDER” EVENTS WERE MORE TRAUMATIC – WOULD THE R WANT TO REPORT ABOUT THE MORE TRAUMATIC EVENTS INSTEAD OF THE MORE RECENT ONES?
QUESTIONS 61-66 – IF A BIKE IS STOLEN FROM A PLAYGROUND, HOW WOULD RESPONDENT ANSWER THIS SET OF QUESTIONS?
Question by Question Probes
APPROACH 2 – PERSON LEVEL INSTRUMENT
Safety/Local Police
QUESTION 6 – HOW WILL Rs WHO HAVE LIVED IN AREA FEWER THAN 3 YEARS ANSWER THIS QUESTION?
Theft
AT QUESTION 1, WHAT COUNTS AS “HOME”? WOULD THE R COUNT THE GARAGE AS PART OF THE HOME? WHAT ABOUT A SHED?
QUESTION 4a – WHAT WOULD COUNT AS “MOST RECENT”?
QUESTIONS 4b-4e – WOULD R THINK ABOUT ALL BREAK-INS IN PAST 12 MONTHS HERE, OR ONLY THE MOST RECENT?
QUESTION 5A – ARE THERE ANY EXAMPLES WE’RE MISSING?
QUESTION 5D – WOULD R ANSWER FOR ALL THEFTS, OR JUST MOST RECENT ONE?
DOES THE R THINK WE’RE ASKING ONLY ABOUT PROPERTY BELONGING TO HIM/HER, OR ANY PROPERTY BELONGING TO HHMs? WHAT ABOUT PROPERTY BELONGING TO CHILDREN? DOES R THINK WE’RE INTERESTED IN THAT TYPE OF PROPERTY AS WELL?
QUESTION 7 – IS IT CLEAR WHAT THIS QUESTION IS ASKING ABOUT?
QUESTION 8 – DOES R FEEL THERE IS SUFFICIENT ROOM TO WRITE? WHAT DID R THINK THEY SHOULD WRITE ABOUT?
Matrix
ITEM B – EXPLORE WHETHER MATRIX INCLUDED ALL ELIGIBLE HHMs. WHAT WOULD THE R DO IF THERE WERE 5 OR MORE ADULT HHMs? DID R LIST SELF AS PERSON 1?
Violent Crimes
QUESTION 1 – WHAT IF THE R WAS PUNCHED AND HURT? WOULD THAT COUNT HERE?
QUESTION 2 – WHAT MIGHT COUNT AS A WEAPON?
QUESTION 4 – WE ALSO ASK ABOUT MUGGING EARLIER ON. WOULD THE R STILL ANSWER HERE OR WOULD R LEAVE THIS BLANK?
QUESTION 6 – WHAT DOES THE R THINK ABOUT THIS QUESTION? IS THE LANGUAGE APPROPRIATE OR WOULD THE R WANT US TO REVISE IT IN SOME WAY?
QUESTION 9 – DOES R FEEL THERE IS SUFFICIENT ROOM TO WRITE? WHAT DID R THINK THEY SHOULD WRITE ABOUT?
Person 2
WHO WOULD THE R CONSIDER TO BE PERSON 2? (EXPLORE WHETHER PERSON 2 WOULD MATCH THE PERSON2 FROM THE EARLIER MATRIX )
general
EXPLORE PROXY RESPONSE – WAS R ABLE TO THINK ABOUT OTHER HHMs? HOW DID THINKING ABOUT OTHER HHM EXPERIENCES DIFFER THAN THINKING ABOUT R’s OWN EXPERIENCES?
WAS R COMFORTABLE ANSWERING QUESTIONS ABOUT OTHER HHMs? WHY/WHY NOT? DOES R THINK S/HE KNOWS ANSWERS FOR OTHER HHMs?
ARE THERE ANY TYPES OF CRIMES THE R THINKS WOULD NOT BE INCLUDED IN THE SURVEY? ANYTHING WE’RE MISSING?
IF TIME SHOW THE NCVS PROBE LIST AND SEE WHETHER ANYTHING ELSE OCCURS TO THE R (SO WE CAN SEE WHAT WE’RE MISSING BY REDUCING THE SCOPE OF THE PROBES) – ANYTHING HERE REMIND YOU OF SOMETHING THAT YOU DID NOT RECORD IN THE SURVEY? DID YOU LEAVE IT OFF BECAUSE YOU DIDN’T THINK IT APLLIED, OR HAD YOU FORGETTEN ABOUT IT?
WAS THERE ANY CONFUSION AS TO WHERE TO PUT A CRIME IN THE SURVEY? (THEFT VS. VIOLENT CRIME)
5. Envelope, Survey Cover and Letters
Can you say something about the envelope that the survey was enclosed in? Is there anything about the envelope that you particularly like or dislike? Anything that would encourage you (or discourage you) from opening the envelope?
What about the cover letter that accompanied the survey? (Is there anything in the letter that you particularly like or dislike?)
What do you think about the front cover of the questionnaire? Is there anything that jumps out at you? (SHOW ALTERNATE COVER AND ASK FOR PREFERENCE)
6. Closing
Is there anything else you noticed about the survey that we have not discussed?
Was there anything that you particularly liked or disliked about the survey?
Do you have any other thoughts or comments about the survey?
Thank you for your time.
Crime Scenarios for Testing
Cognitive Testing of the NCVS Screeners – Crime Scenarios for no-criminal victimization respondents
Summary of the scenarios
These four crime scenarios represent a spread across different types of crimes. These crime scenarios will be used by respondents who have not experienced a crime victimization in the past 12 months.
Household Composition: You + Spouse + Mother-in-law + 2 adult children + 1 younger child
Scenario 1
In January, your next-door neighbor had a party that was very loud and disruptive. You and your adult son went to your neighbor to complain. Your neighbor called you a whiner and punched both you and your adult son in the face. You were taken to the hospital and treated for a broken nose, your son did not require hospitalization but was also injured. You went home from the hospital after being treated and did not stay in the hospital overnight.
Scenario 2
In January, someone broke into your adult daughter’s car and stole the car radio and a GPS . The car was parked in your home’s driveway. You reported it to your insurance company and to the police. You are still waiting to collect the insurance money.
Scenario 3
In January, your spouse was at a service counter trying to rent a car. They put their cell phone and sun glasses on the counter. When they turned around to go, they saw that their sun glasses and cell phone were no longer there.
Scenario 4
In January, you were on a week-long business trip. When you arrived home, you saw that your front door had been broken open. When you walked in, a kid you recognized from the neighborhood ran up to you, knocked you down and ran out of the house. You discovered that about $5,000 worth of electronic equipment was missing and $1000 in cash. You immediately reported it to the police. You did not suffer any injuries from being knocked down.
SHOW CARD OF CRIME PROBES
Check List of Possible Crimes
Was something belonging to your household stolen, such as -
(a) Things that you carry, like luggage, a wallet, purse, briefcase book -
(b) Clothing, jewelry, or cellphone -
(c) Bicycle or sports equipment -
(d) Things in your home - like a TV, stereo, or tools -
(e) Things outside your home such as a garden hose or lawn furniture
(f) Things belonging to children in the household
(g) Things from a vehicle, such as a package, groceries, camera, or CDs
Did anyone ATTEMPT to steal anything belonging to your household?
Other than any incidents already mentioned, has anyone –
(a) Broken in or ATTEMPTED to break into your home by forcing a door or window, pushing past someone, jimmying a lock, cutting a screen, or entering through an open door or window?
(b) Has anyone illegally gotten in or tried to get into a garage, shed, or storage room? OR
(c) Illegally gotten in or tried to get into a hotel or motel room or vacation home where you were staying?
Other than any incidents already mentioned, were any household vehicles –
(a) Stolen or used without permission?
(b) Did anyone steal any parts such as a tire, car stereo, hubcap, or battery?
(c) Did anyone steal any gas from (it/them)? OR
(d) Did anyone ATTEMPT to steal any vehicle or parts attached to (it/them)?
Other than any incidents already mentioned, were you/any other household members attacked or threatened OR did you/other household members have something stolen from you –
(a) At home including the porch or yard
(b) At or near a friend's, relative's, or neighbor's home
(c) At work or school
d) In places such as a storage shed or laundry room, a shopping mall, restaurant, bank, or airport
(e) While riding in any vehicle
(f) On the street or in a parking lot
(g) At such places as a party, theater, gym, picnic area, bowling lanes, or while fishing or hunting
OR Did anyone ATTEMPT to attack or ATTEMPT to steal anything belonging to you/other household members from any of these places?
Other than any incidents already mentioned, has anyone attacked or threatened you/other household members in any of these ways -
(Exclude telephone threats) -
(a) With any weapon, for instance, a gun or knife -
(b) With anything like a baseball bat, frying pan, scissors, or stick -
(c) By something thrown, such as a rock or bottle -
(d) Include any grabbing, punching, or choking,
(e) Any rape, attempted rape or other type of sexual attack -
(f) Any face to face threats -
People often don't think of incidents committed by someone they know. Other than any incidents already mentioned, did you/other household members have something stolen OR were attacked or threatened by
(a) Someone at work or school
(b) A neighbor or friend
(c) A relative or family member
(d) Any other person you've met or known?
Incidents involving forced or unwanted sexual acts are often difficult to talk about. Other than any incidents already mentioned, have you/other household members been forced or coerced to engage in unwanted sexual activity by –
(a) Someone you/they didn't know
(b) A casual acquaintance
(c) Someone you/they know well?
Other than any incidents already mentioned, did you call the police to report something that happened to YOU which you thought was a crime?
Other than any incidents already mentioned, did anything which you thought was a crime happen to YOU, but you did NOT report to the police?
| File Type | application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document |
| Author | Pamela Giambo |
| File Modified | 0000-00-00 |
| File Created | 2021-01-30 |