Drug Usage Rates as Related to Method of Data Acquisition. Technical Report No. 74-20.

Assessing the extent to which survey results vary as a function of how the data was collected provides a sounder basis for interpreting the magnitude of a problem implied in a particular set of survey results. This study was concerned with drug abuse in the Army, and was directed at comparing reported drug rates obtained by a variety of data-gathering procedures. It was assumed that whichever methods of data collection yielded the highest rates of usage were probably the most valid. Two separate studies were conducted, using different methodologies. In Study 1, a comparison was made between the drug usage rates yielded by an anonymous questionnaire and indepth personal interviews conducted under nearly ideal interview conditions. In Study 2, the effect of type of administrator on drug usage rates obtained by the questionnaire was examined. The methodological finding in both of the studies showed that obtained drug usage rates, using several criteria, did not differ significantly for the several modes of collection. The study also presents supplemental findings on drug usage rates. (Author/PC)