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Volume 2: No. 2, April 2005
Suggested citation for this article: Harrow JJ. A note on “A Catalog of
Biases in Questionnaires” [letter to the editor]. Prev Chronic Dis [serial online] 2005 Apr [date cited]. Available from: URL: http://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2005/
apr/05_0014.htm.
The authors of “A Catalog of Biases in Questionnaires” in the January issue (1) provide a useful catalog of questionnaire biases, but in one of their examples, their recommended response is guilty of the same bias. This error occurs in Overlapping Interval.
Example:
How many cigarettes do you smoke per day?
[ ] None [ ] 5 or less [ ] 5–25 [ ] 25 or more
The authors' recommended question was:
How many cigarettes do you smoke per day?
[ ] None [ ] 4 or less [ ] 5–24 [ ] 25 or more
While this corrects the ambiguity of the first question for respondents who smoke exactly 5 or 25 cigarettes per day, it maintains the ambiguity for nonsmokers. The recommended question should be:
How many cigarettes do you smoke per day?
[ ] None [ ] 1–4 [ ] 5–24 [ ] 25 or more
Jeffrey J. Harrow, MD, PhD
Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN) 8
Patient Safety Center of Inquiry
James A. Haley VA Medical Center
Tampa, Fla
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The opinions expressed by authors contributing to this journal do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Public Health Service, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or the authors’ affiliated institutions. Use of trade names is for identification only and does not imply endorsement by any of the groups named above.
Privacy Policy | Accessibility This page last reviewed March 30, 2012
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