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

2. 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, July 2011 2

3. 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.
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4. 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, July 2011 4

5. 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
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6. 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?
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7. 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
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8. 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)
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9. 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”
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10. 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, July 2011 10

11. 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?
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