Centre for Policy on Ageing



Supporting the very old when completing a questionnaire — risking bias or gaining valid results?
Author(s)	Ulf Isaksson, Regina Santamäki-Fischer, Björn Nygren
Journal title	Research on Aging, vol 29, no 6, November 2007
Pages	pp 576-589
Keywords	Nonagenarians ; Well being ; Questionnaires ; Interviewing ; Evaluation ; Sweden.
Annotation	As part of the Umeå 85+ Study in northern Sweden, this study aimed to elucidate the process of completing a questionnaire in a supportive face-to-face manner. 12 participants age 90+ 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 analysed by means of qualitative content analysis. Four types of dialogue 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 the risk for bias and ways to overcome the problem. The authors conclude that support via face-to-face interview in answering a questionnaire is valuable in obtaining valid data from very old people. (RH).
Accession Number	CPA-080121208 A
Classmark	BBR: D:F:5HH: 3DA: 3DL: 4C: 76P
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...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing.