IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/qualqt/v57y2023i4d10.1007_s11135-022-01489-4.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

An experimental test of the effectiveness of cognitive interviewing in pretesting questionnaires

Author

Listed:
  • Timo Lenzner

    (GESIS – Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences, Survey Design and Methodology)

  • Patricia Hadler

    (GESIS – Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences, Survey Design and Methodology)

  • Cornelia Neuert

    (GESIS – Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences, Survey Design and Methodology)

Abstract

Pretesting survey questions via cognitive interviewing is based on the assumptions that the problems identified by the method truly exist in a later survey and that question revisions based on cognitive interviewing findings produce higher-quality data than the original questions. In this study, we empirically tested these assumptions in a web survey experiment (n = 2,200). Respondents received one of two versions of a question on self-reported financial knowledge: either the original draft version, which was pretested in ten cognitive interviews, or a revised version, which was modified based on the results of the cognitive interviews. We examined whether the cognitive interviewing findings predicted problems encountered in the web survey and whether the revised question version was associated with higher content-related and criterion-related validity than the draft version. The results show that cognitive interviewing is effective in identifying real question problems, but not necessarily in fixing survey questions and improving data quality. Overall, our findings point to the importance of using iterative pretesting designs, that is, carrying out multiple rounds of cognitive interviews and also testing the revisions to ensure that they are indeed of higher quality than the draft questions.

Suggested Citation

  • Timo Lenzner & Patricia Hadler & Cornelia Neuert, 2023. "An experimental test of the effectiveness of cognitive interviewing in pretesting questionnaires," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 57(4), pages 3199-3217, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:qualqt:v:57:y:2023:i:4:d:10.1007_s11135-022-01489-4
    DOI: 10.1007/s11135-022-01489-4
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11135-022-01489-4
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11135-022-01489-4?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Henry Kaiser, 1970. "A second generation little jiffy," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 35(4), pages 401-415, December.
    2. Thérèse Lind & Ali Ahmed & Kenny Skagerlund & Camilla Strömbäck & Daniel Västfjäll & Gustav Tinghög, 2020. "Competence, Confidence, and Gender: The Role of Objective and Subjective Financial Knowledge in Household Finance," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 41(4), pages 626-638, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Siwarit Pongsakornrungsilp & Pimlapas Pongsakornrungsilp & Theeranuch Pusaksrikit & Pimmada Wichasin & Vikas Kumar, 2021. "Co-Creating a Sustainable Regional Brand from Multiple Sub-Brands: The Andaman Tourism Cluster of Thailand," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-23, August.
    2. Chetan Doddamani & M. Manoj, 2023. "Analysis of the influences of built environment measures on household car and motorcycle ownership decisions in Hubli-Dharwad cities," Transportation, Springer, vol. 50(1), pages 205-243, February.
    3. Ben-Shahar, Danny & Golan, Roni, 2014. "Real estate and personality," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 111-119.
    4. Cortés-Sánchez, Julián David & Grueso, Merlin Patricia, 2017. "Factor analysis evaluation of Schein's career orientation inventory in Colombia," OSF Preprints jf5nq, Center for Open Science.
    5. Talwar, Manish & Talwar, Shalini & Kaur, Puneet & Tripathy, Naliniprava & Dhir, Amandeep, 2021. "Has financial attitude impacted the trading activity of retail investors during the COVID-19 pandemic?," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    6. Alessandro Bitetto & Paola Cerchiello & Charilaos Mertzanis, 2021. "A data-driven approach to measuring epidemiological susceptibility risk around the world," DEM Working Papers Series 200, University of Pavia, Department of Economics and Management.
    7. Giorgio Calcagnini & Francesco Perugini, 2019. "A Well-Being Indicator for the Italian Provinces," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 142(1), pages 149-177, February.
    8. Lei Jiang & Zhongfu Li & Long Li & Yunli Gao, 2018. "Constraints on the Promotion of Prefabricated Construction in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1, July.
    9. Chathurika Sewwandi Kannangara & Rosie Elizabeth Allen & Jerome Francis Carson & Samia Zahraa Noor Khan & Gill Waugh & Kondal Reddy Kandadi, 2020. "Onwards and upwards: The development, piloting and validation of a new measure of academic tenacity- The Bolton Uni-Stride Scale (BUSS)," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(7), pages 1-26, July.
    10. Yuanxin Liu & FengYun Li & Xinhua Yu & Jiahai Yuan & Dong Zhou, 2018. "Assessing the Credit Risk of Corporate Bonds Based on Factor Analysis and Logistic Regress Analysis Techniques: Evidence from New Energy Enterprises in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-21, May.
    11. Mauricio Carvache-Franco & Daniel Contreras-Moscol & Miguel Orden-Mejía & Wilmer Carvache-Franco & Héctor Vera-Holguin & Orly Carvache-Franco, 2022. "Motivations and Loyalty of the Demand for Adventure Tourism as Sustainable Travel," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-17, July.
    12. Robert Semel, 2016. "The Caring-Uncaring Emotional (CUE) Inventory: A Pilot Study of a New Measure of Affective Psychopathy Traits," International Journal of Psychological Studies, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 8(4), pages 1-1, December.
    13. Pendleton, Andrew & Robinson, Andrew, 2021. "Why walk away from an easy gain in wealth? Evidence from a UK stock option plan," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 31(C).
    14. Chao-Ming Wang & Bo-Ting Lee & Ting-Yun Lo, 2023. "The Design of a Novel Digital Puzzle Gaming System for Young Children’s Learning by Interactive Multi-Sensing and Tangible User Interfacing Techniques," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-43, February.
    15. Stanley Kam Sing Wong, 2013. "Environmental Requirements, Knowledge Sharing and Green Innovation: Empirical Evidence from the Electronics Industry in China," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(5), pages 321-338, July.
    16. Oryani, Bahareh & Moridian, Ali & Sarkar, Biswajit & Rezania, Shahabaldin & Kamyab, Hesam & Khan, Muhammad Kamran, 2022. "Assessing the financial rеsоurсе curse hypothesis in Iran: Thе nоvеl dynаmiс АRDL approach," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    17. Fred van Raaij, W. & Riitsalu, Leonore & Põder, Kaire, 2023. "Direct and indirect effects of self-control and future time perspective on financial well-being," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    18. Kreis, Yvonne & Leisen, Dietmar P.J., 2018. "Systemic risk in a structural model of bank default linkages," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 221-236.
    19. Martha Ríos Manríquez & Celina López Mateo & Julián Ferrer Guerra, 2016. "Factorial Validation of a Corporate Social Responsibility Perception Scale for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises," Information Management and Business Review, AMH International, vol. 8(5), pages 25-38.
    20. Anita Oppong & Livingstone Divine Caesar, 2023. "A contingency analysis of brand reputation and loyalty in the banking sector," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 3(7), pages 1-29, July.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:qualqt:v:57:y:2023:i:4:d:10.1007_s11135-022-01489-4. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.