QBANK: Development of a TestedQuestion Database

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Q-BANK Development of a Tested- Question
Database

• Kristen Miller, Ph.D.
• Office of Research and Methodology
• National Center for Health Statistics
• ksmiller_at_cdc.gov

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Q-BANK Origination

• 2001 QUEST conference
• Losing knowledge
• Repeat testing

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Lack of place

• Implications
• Personal
• Administrative
• Survey Research

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Impact on Question Evaluation

• Inability to compare studies
• Hinders methodological conclusions
• Prevents insight
• Stagnant method
• Limited use to survey research

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Database Structure

• National Center for Health Statistics original
  developers
• Access to past evaluation projects
• Methodological research in question design

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Q-BANK houses

• Individual questions
• Test reports
• Test findings
• Methods used
• Question characteristics

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Question Subject Matter

• Numerous, open categories
• Accessed by drop-down list
• Examples
• Demographic Income, Race, Gender, Nationality
• Health Insurance, Chronic conditions, Smoking
• Employment Status, Occupation, Job change,
  Salary, Benefits

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Question Information Type

• Events, Actions and Behaviors
• Objective Characteristics
• Subjective Characteristics
• Speculations
• Attitudes/Opinions
• Knowledge Tests
• Other

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Response Category Type

• Yes/no
• Select one textual
• Select one numeric
• Mark all that apply
• Allocation
• Open-ended textual Delineated Non-delineated
• Open-ended textual Delineated Non-delineated
• Other

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Response Error Indicator

• Interviewer difficulty
• Visual design problem
• Missed instructions
• Unknown terms
• Ambiguous concepts
• Overly complex
• Assumption
• Double barrel
• Questionnaire effects
• Recall estimation error
• Inadequate response options
• Problematic answer space
• None as tested

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Q-BANK Homepage
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Search Results Page
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Question Information Page
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(No Transcript)
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Value of Q-BANK

• Survey Research Tool for
• Questionnaire Designers
• Subject Analysts
• Survey Methodologists

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Interagency Effort

• Co-Sponsors
• Office of Behavioral and Social Science Research,
  
• Bureau of the Census,
• National Science Foundation,
• National Cancer Institute,
• Bureau of Labor Statistics
• NCHS provides internet access

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Current Status

• On-line to steering committee members
• Testing and refinement
• Broader access possibly by end of year
• Looking for sponsors and partners

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Challenges

• Past
• Integrating interagency needs
• Additional fields for establishment surveys
• Additional fields for self-administered surveys
• Reworking existing categories response error
  typologies, question type typologies, question
  topic categories
• Establishing procedures
• Methodological requirements of evaluation reports

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Challenges

• Current
• Coding consistency
• Populating the database
• Staffing limitations
• Funding limitations

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Challenges

• Future
• Maintaining a methodological research agenda
• Continual eye toward development