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Asserting that college advisers have the opportunity to enrich prehealth students' growth by becoming mentors, discusses issues mentors will encounter when supporting students, including career selection; roles for the mentor; curriculum, classes, and grades; application; moving beyond the medical school option; innovative opportunities for mentorship; and redesigning the advisory or mentor network. (EV)

Intercultural contact is a well-studied phenomenon and particularly relevant in the context of migration. However, research in this field often treats immigrants as independent entities and ignores their role in social structures. An approach that can account for the complex dynamics and relational interdependencies underlying immigrants’ acculturation processes is the social network approach. We illustrate the value of bringing in a personal social network perspective to the study of intercultural contact with two cases: (1) Eritrean and Syrian refugees in Germany and (2) Ecuadorian, Moroccan, Pakistani, and Romanian immigrants in Barcelona, Spain. We conclude with some thoughts on the conceptual and methodological benefits of the social network approach and some reflections on policy implications.

Interkultureller Kontakt ist ein gut untersuchtes Phänomen und im Kontext von Migration von besonderer Relevanz. Die Forschung auf diesem Gebiet behandelt Immigrant*innen jedoch häufig als unabhängige Einheiten und lässt ihre Rolle in sozialen Strukturen außer Acht. Ein Ansatz, der der komplexen Dynamik und den Wechselbeziehungen, die den Akkulturationsprozessen der Einwandernden zugrunde liegen, Rechnung tragen kann, ist der Ansatz der sozialen Netzwerke. Wir veranschaulichen den Wert der Einbeziehung einer persönlichen sozialen Netzwerkperspektive in die Untersuchung interkultureller Kontakte anhand von zwei Beispielen: (1) Eritreische und syrische Geflüchtete in Deutschland und (2) ecuadorianische, marokkanische, pakistanische und rumänische Immigrant*innen in Barcelona, Spanien. Wir schließen mit einigen Gedanken zu den konzeptionellen und methodischen Vorteilen des Ansatzes der sozialen Netzwerke und Überlegungen zu den politischen Implikationen.

Physician surveys are now commonly conducted online, although there is little information currently available regarding the practice of online survey research with health care professionals. We addressed this concern by conducting an overview and assessment of the methodologies disclosed in a sample of 200 published papers that report findings from web-based surveys of physicians. Fifteen methodological aspects of web surveys were coded from each paper, and a transparency index based on aggregation of these various indicators was constructed to evaluate overall survey quality. Some indicators, such as the source and type of samples, along with information regarding ethical aspects of protocols, were commonly reported. In contrast, the use of incentives, and discussion of potential coverage and processing errors were reported less frequently. We hypothesize that these reporting patterns may be dictated by journal requirements. As web surveys are destined to serve as an important modality for data collection from physicians and other health care professionals for the foreseeable future, it is important to encourage – if not require – researchers to regularly disclose a broader range of quality indicators when reporting their research findings.

Cross-cultural variability in respondent processing of survey questions may bias results from multiethnic samples. We analyzed behavior codes, which identify difficulties in the interactions of respondents and interviewers, from a discrimination module contained within a field test of the 2007 California Health Interview Survey. In all, 553 (English) telephone interviews yielded 13,999 interactions involving 22 items. Multilevel logistic regression modeling revealed that respondent age and several item characteristics (response format, customized questions, length, and first item with new response format), but not race/ethnicity, were associated with interactional problems. These findings suggest that item function within a multi-cultural, albeit English language, survey may be largely influenced by question features, as opposed to respondent characteristics such as race/ethnicity.

"In cross-cultural (and cross-national) survey research, the equivalence of survey questions rivals the importance of their reliability and validity. This paper presents a review of the multiple dimensions of equivalence that must be addressed when conducting comparative survey research. Available methodologies for establishing one or more forms of equivalence are also identified and the strengths and limitations of each approach are examined. It is concluded that multiple methodologies must be implemented in order to insure the cross-cultural equivalence of survey measures." (author's abstract)

Um Charakteristika gleicher Fragen in Gesundheitsumfragen im Zusammenhang mit interkulturellen Unterschieden im Verständnis dieser Fragen zu identifizieren, analysieren die Verfasser Befragungen zum Gesundheitssystem, wobei die Befragten vier verschiedene kulturelle Subgruppen in den USA repräsentieren (weiße Nicht-Hispanics, Afroamerikaner, mexikanische Amerikaner und Puerto Ricaner) mit Hilfe des Instruments des Behaviour Coding. Untersucht werden die Auswirkungen von vier Merkmalen der Fragebogenkonstruktion auf kulturelle Schwierigkeiten beim Verständnis der Fragen. Die empirische Datenbasis bilden 13514 Antworten von 345 Befragten auf 42 Fragen. Es zeigt sich, dass das Antwortformat, die Länge der Frage sowie das Lese- und Abstraktionsniveau der Fragen einen wesentlichen Einfluss auf das Verständnis der Fragen bei den Befragten haben. Die Kultur der Befragen hatte einen moderierenden Einfluss auf die Effekte von Antwortformat, Fragenlänge und Leseniveau. Verschiedene Aspekte des Fragebogendesigns, die den Fragebogen allgemein verständlicher machen sollen, haben ebenfalls kulturspezifische Auswirkungen. (ICEÜbers)

The landscape of survey research has arguably changed more significantly in the past decade than at any other time in its relatively brief history. In that short time, landline telephone ownership has dropped from some 98 percent of all households to less than 60 percent; cell-phone interviewing went from a novelty to a mainstay; address-based designs quickly became an accepted method of sampling the general population; and surveys via Internet panels became ubiquitous in many sectors of social and market research, even as they continue to raise concerns given their lack of random selection. Among these widespread changes, it is perhaps not surprising that the substantial increase in refusal rates has received comparatively little attention. As we will detail, it was not uncommon for a study conducted 20 years ago to have encountered one refusal for every one or two completed interviews, while today experiencing three or more refusals for every one completed interview is commonplace. This trend has led to several concerns that motivate this Task Force. As refusal rates have increased, refusal bias (as a component of nonresponse bias) is an increased threat to the validity of survey results. Of practical concern are the efficacy and cost implications of enhanced efforts to avert initial refusals and convert refusals that do occur. Finally, though no less significant, are the ethical concerns raised by the possibility that efforts to minimize refusals can be perceived as coercive or harassing potential respondents. Indeed, perhaps the most important goal of this document is to foster greater consideration by the reader of the rights of respondents in survey research.