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In Estonia, the Generations and Gender Survey 2020 (GGS-II) is the third large-scale demographic survey that collects data on family and fertility dynamics. As the country participates in the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe, the GGS-II opted for a shorter age range of the sample (18–59). The questionnaire in the GGS-II in Estonia follows the GGS-II wave 1 baseline questionnaire. The questionnaire also includes the Global Uncertainties’ module developed by the Nordic countries, a battery of questions on the perceived impact of COVID-19, and several country-specific items. The GGS-II in Estonia was implemented using only computer-assisted web interviewing (CAWI). In this article, we present a concise overview of the sampling and data collection process, analyse representativeness and response rates, and briefly assess the data quality. We conclude that despite low response rates, the GGS-II provides a good basis for the analysis of fertility and family dynamics.

In recent years, the increase in general interest in methods for measuring cognitive load and subjectively perceived mental effort when solving various tasks and in the interpersonal communication was accompanied by an increase in the specific interest of social researchers in the multimodal assessment of the cognitive load of interviewers and respondents based on objective and subjective indicators, including paradata and webcam data, in order to control this loads impact on the quality of survey data. The authors argue that the possibilities of relatively new approaches to measuring cognitive load with neurophysiological methods (such as the use of wearable devices for oculography - eye tracking and pupillometry - which do not disrupt the natural course of respondents and interviewers activity) are still underestimated, although they allow an accurate time linkage of measured parameters dynamics (primarily the size of the pupil) to the question format, mode and phase of survey completion, external influences localized in time, etc. As a rule, quantitative studies of surveys cognitive load and its possible impact on the quality of survey data focus on computer-assisted (CAPI) or paper-based (PAPI) interviewing, while the specificity of the cognitive load in the self-completed computerized (CASI) and paper (PPSI) surveys was not studied. The article presents the results of the methodological experiment based on a modified version of the multimodal approach to the comparative assessment of the cognitive load of interviewers working with paper and computerized questionnaire. We expanded the range of methods for assessing cognitive load by using a wearable oculographic device (eye tracker) to measure the dynamics of pupil size when answering different survey questions. The results of the experiment confirmed the hypothesis about the approximate equivalence of the two modes of survey completion in terms of their cognitive load for younger respondents with a high level of functional computer literacy, and allowed an initial assessment of the technical and metrological capabilities and limitations of the use of pupil dynamics indicators, measured with a wearable oculographic device, to study the respondents cognitive load.

Introduction Face-to-face surveys are applied frequently when conducting research in older populations. Interviewers play a decisive role in data quality, may affect measurement and influence results. This study uses survey data about pain in nursing home residents and analyses, whether affiliation-of-interviewer (internal vs. external to nursing home) and gender-of-interviewer affect residents' responses in terms of interviewer variance and systematically varying pain reports. Methods Overall, 258 nursing home residents with up to moderate cognitive impairment were examined by 61 interviewers about pain intensity and interference applying the Brief Pain Inventory. Interviewer variance was measured using intra-interviewer correlation coefficients (ρ). Two-factorial covariance analysis was applied to analyse whether pain intensity and interference scores differ by interviewer characteristics. Results Interviewer heterogeneity accounts for almost one quarter of total variance on average. Interviewer variance is higher for internal and male interviewers than for external and female interviewers. Covariance analyses show significant effects of interviewer characteristics on pain reports. Average pain intensity and interference scores vary considerably by interviewer gender and affiliation. Highest pain intensity was reported towards female internal and male external interviewers; highest pain interference was reported towards male external interviewers. Conclusion Residents' answers substantially differ in relation to who is assessing pain. There is a risk of imprecise and biased survey estimates on sensitive topics like pain in nursing homes. Interviewer gender and affiliation seem to evoke gender-specific and status-related expectations and attributions which influence residents' response process. Interviewer effects pose a considerable threat to survey data quality in institutionalised older populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The belief that survey research instruments mediating communication between interviewer and respondent influence the quality of data obtained in the interview has become a conventional methodological wisdom long ago. However, the impact of the cognitive load experienced by the interviewer has not been systematically examined. When a questionnaire is filled up by an interviewer it is the latter who has to allocate limited individual resources of attention, memory, visual and motor control, active listening and interpretation in order to minimize the respondent’s misunderstanding of the questions and one’s own errors of the answers’ fixation. However, among various methods of pre-testing or evaluating survey mode effects and assessing instruments’ quality, the methods of multimodal quantitative estimation of instrument-related cognitive load experienced by interviewers during the interview are still rare or lacking. Thus, the article presents a brief review of subjective, behavioral and physiological measures of the cognitive load, which are used in such disciplinary fields as cognitive science, ergonomics, etc., and a discussion of preliminary findings of the field quasi-experiment conducted among the interviewers of the Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey on the first stage of transition to the CAPI mode. The quasi-experiment findings prove some possibilities and limitations of the parallel use of a version of the cognitive load rating scale developed by F. Paas and a simple physiological measure (heart rate) supplemented with a background screen video capture from Android-based tablets used for CAPI interviews for the multimodal quantitative evaluation and optimization of the interviewer’s cognitive load.

For a given survey data file we define a non-unique record, NUR, as a sequence of all values in a given case (record), which is identical to that of another case in the same dataset. We analyzed 1,721 national surveys in 22 international projects, covering 142 countries and 2.3 million respondents, and found a total of 5,893 NURs concentrated in 162 national surveys, in 17 projects and 80 countries. We show that the probability of the occurrence of any NUR in an average survey sample is exceedingly small, and although NURs constitute a minor fraction of all records, it is unlikely that they are solely the result of random chance. We describe how NURs are distributed across projects, countries, time, modes of data collection, and sampling methods. We demonstrate that NURs diminish data quality and potentially have undesirable effects on the results of statistical analyses. Identifying NURs allows researchers to examine the consequences of their existence in data files. We argue that such records should be flagged in all publically available data archives. We provide a complete list of NURs for all analyzed national surveys.

Background: Little is known about the public health professionals engaged in educating and training new or future researchers in public health. Research in this direction identifies their issues, concerns, challenges, and needs. This study focused on the professional development challenges of Chinese public health professionals., Methods: Snowball sampling was utilized. A total of 265 public health professionals participated. An instrument of 6 dimensions (burnout, sleep issue, mood issue, friends' support, exercise, and challenges) was developed, revised, and administered online. Two different approaches, the conventional and data screening approaches, were applied. The former started with item quality analyses, whereas the latter began with data quality checks. The chi-square tests of associations and logistic regressions were performed on both approaches., Results and Discussion: 19.25% of the participants were detected and deleted as careless respondents. Using both approaches, six professional development challenges except one ("Multidisciplinary learning") were significantly associated with various demographic features. The two approaches produced different models though they converged sometimes. The latent variables of exercise predicted professional development challenges more frequently than other latent variables. Regarding correct classification rates, results from the data screening approach were comparable to those from the conventional approach., Conclusion: The latent variables of exercise, such as "Exercise effects," "Expectations of exercise," and "Belief in exercise," might be understudied. More research is necessary for professional development challenges using exercise as a multidimensional construct. Based on the current study, screening and deleting careless responses in survey research is necessary., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Wang, Kong, Li and Zhao.)

•Ensuring data quality in large scale surveys is challenging.•The trend and pattern of declining fertility and declining contraceptive use in India is puzzling.•Interview privacy setting and interviewer effect can partially explain the anomaly.•Large scale surveys impose severe demands on survey supervision and ability to ensure privacy.•Innovative ways of data collection for sensitive issues can be explored for proper reporting., Competing Interests: None., (© 2022 Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Copyright of BMS: Bulletin de Méthodologie Sociologique (l'Association Internationale de Méthodologie Sociologique (AIMS)) is the property of l'Association Internationale de Methodologie Sociologique (AIMS) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of BMS: Bulletin de Méthodologie Sociologique (l'Association Internationale de Méthodologie Sociologique (AIMS)) is the property of l'Association Internationale de Methodologie Sociologique (AIMS) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)