Information Flowing in Two Directions: How Respondents Learn by Responding to the National Health Interview Survey

• Activity Number: 35
• Type: Contributed
• Date/Time: Sunday, July 31, 2011 : 2:00 PM to 3:50 PM
• Sponsor: Section on Survey Research Methods
• Author(s): Jane F. Gentleman*+
• Companies: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Keywords: Survey respondents ; Interviewer training ; National Health Interview Survey ; National Center for Health Statistics

Abstract

Obviously, when an interviewer administers a survey questionnaire, the collected data will be used to learn about the surveyed population. What is not so obvious is that survey respondents learn from the experience of being surveyed. The National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) is an in-person household survey conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). NHIS interviewers, who are employees of the Census Bureau under contract to NCHS, repeatedly ask for more information about the survey, e.g., why certain survey questions are asked, how the data will be used, and how participating in the survey is beneficial. Interviewers want more information, both for themselves and to convey to respondents. Accordingly, NHIS interviewer training aims to arm interviewers with information and techniques to improve their interviewing and elicit respondent cooperation and accurate responses. This paper describes how NHIS interviewing has recently been improved and how NHIS respondents learn, from participating in the survey, about their own and their family's health, public health, the science of surveys, and government involvement in public health.