Training course on developing and using questionnaires for agricultural surveys The cognitive model in answering questions Marco Ballin Istanbul, 18-21 July 2011 1

The cognitive model in answering questions The cognitive science concerns the study of mind as  information processors.  It regards the processes of understanding language, remembering, forgetting, perception, judgment, and inferring causes. From the survey research point of view the cognitive approach can help in avoiding some measurement error that can result if respondents misunderstand the survey questions or key concepts, do not know or cannot recall the needed information from memory, use an inappropriate heuristic for making a judgment, or prefer to hide certain information or provide a socially desirable answer. Istanbul, 18-21 July 2011 2

STRENGHTS OF COGNITIVE APPROACH The cognitive model in answering questions STRENGHTS OF COGNITIVE APPROACH In the literature can easily found studies that show as the methods developed in this framework help in identifying problems in less time than with traditional field pretest, with fewer respondents, with less professional effort, and at lower cost. Istanbul, 18-21 July 2011 3

WEAKNESS OF COGNITIVE APPROACH The cognitive model in answering questions WEAKNESS OF COGNITIVE APPROACH This approach has been developed mainly in the framework of surveys on household and individuals Literature is lacking of examples of applications on questionnaire for surveys on holdings or on agricultural topics Istanbul, 18-21 July 2011 4

The cognitive interviewing model The cognitive model in answering questions The cognitive interviewing model It assumes that the response process happens throught the following steps: Comprehension of the question Retrieval from memory of relevant information Decision or judgment or estimation process Response or reporting process The cognitive approach try to limits the errors that can arise in each of these steps Istanbul, 18-21 July 2011 5

The cognitive interviewing model: Comprehension of the question The cognitive model in answering questions The cognitive interviewing model: Comprehension of the question In facing this step the researcher should consider the following problems a) Question intent: what does the respondent believe the question to be asking? b) Meaning of terms: what do specific words and phrases in the question mean to the respondent? Istanbul, 18-21 July 2011 6

The cognitive interviewing model: Comprehension of the question The cognitive model in answering questions The cognitive interviewing model: Comprehension of the question Efforts should be made in order every unit of the population can clearly understand (and in the same way) each question. The cognitive approach propose to follow some principles in order to reach this result we are going to examine this principles after lunch Istanbul, 18-21 July 2011 7

The cognitive interviewing model: The cognitive model in answering questions The cognitive interviewing model: 2) Retrieval from memory of relevant information In facing this step the researcher should consider the following problems a) what types of information does the respondent need to recall in order to answer the question? b) What type of strategy are used to retrieve information? The methods that can be used to avoid memory problems depend on type of information requested, period of reference, type of units (individuals and enterprise have different models of recording information) Istanbul, 18-21 July 2011 8

The cognitive interviewing model: The cognitive model in answering questions The cognitive interviewing model: 3) Decision / judgment / estimation process This stage concern the way the respondent combines the retrieved information to estimate the response. Researcher should consider the following aspects of this stage motivation: does the respondent devote sufficient mental efforts to answer the question accurately and thoughfully Does the respondent want to tell the truth? Does he/she say something that makes him/her look “better” Istanbul, 18-21 July 2011 9

The cognitive interviewing model: 4) Response (or reporting) process The cognitive model in answering questions The cognitive interviewing model: 4) Response (or reporting) process In this phase the respondent has already retrieved and formatted a response. The problem concerns the difficulties that respondent can meet in mapping his/her response with the categories supplied with the questionnaire Istanbul, 18-21 July 2011 10

Some topics for the discussion: The cognitive model in answering questions Some topics for the discussion: 1) How can we translate this model to the case of business surveys? 2) Can the same approach be used for surveys on farms? 3) What is the added value of the cognitive interviewing with respect to an “experience based” approach? Istanbul, 18-21 July 2011 11