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This is the preliminary program for the 2007 Joint Statistical Meetings in Salt Lake City, Utah.

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Activity Number: 152
Type: Contributed
Date/Time: Monday, July 30, 2007 : 10:30 AM to 12:20 PM
Sponsor: Section on Survey Research Methods
Abstract - #309524
Title: SOI Develops Better Survey Questions Through Pretesting
Author(s): Tara Wells*+ and Diane M. Milleville
Companies: Internal Revenue Service and Internal Revenue Service
Address: Statistics of Income, Washington, DC, 20001,
Keywords: pre-testing ; survey question development
Abstract:

Recently, the Statistics of Income (SOI) Division of the Internal Revenue Service helped a customer develop a survey. Without any prior knowledge of the survey's topic, SOI found it difficult to write "good" survey questions. Through the use of pretesting, SOI gradually became more familiar with the topic, determined how to phrase the questions, and understood which questions to include in the survey. Using cognitive interviewing, along with an Intranet application, SOI was able to obtain feedback from a small subset of the survey population. The survey content evolved into a set of well-developed questions that were easily understood by the participants. Through continued research of survey question development, SOI will benefit in future survey projects through the use of pretesting.

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Revised September, 2007