Pasick R J, Stewart S L, Bird J A, D'Onofrio C N
Northern California Cancer Center, Union City 94587-3106, USA.
Public Health Rep. 2001;116 Suppl 1(Suppl 1):223-43. doi: 10.1093/phr/116.S1.223.
There has been insufficient research on the influence of ethno-cultural and language differences in public health surveys. Using data from three independent studies, the authors examine methods to assess data quality and to identify causes of problematic survey questions.
Qualitative and quantitative methods were used in this exploratory study, including secondary analyses of data from three baseline surveys (conducted in English, Spanish, Cantonese, Mandarin, and Vietnamese). Collection of additional data included interviews with investigators and interviewers; observations of item development; focus groups; think-aloud interviews; a test-retest assessment survey; and a pilot test of alternatively worded questions.
The authors identify underlying causes for the 12 most problematic variables in three multiethnic surveys and describe them in terms of ethnic differences in reliability, validity, and cognitive processes (interpretation, memory retrieval, judgment formation, and response editing), and differences with regard to cultural appropriateness and translation problems.
Multiple complex elements affect measurement in a multiethnic survey, many of which are neither readily observed nor understood through standard tests of data quality. Multiethnic survey questions are best evaluated using a variety of quantitative and qualitative methods that reveal different types and causes of problems.
关于公共卫生调查中民族文化和语言差异的影响，目前研究不足。作者利用三项独立研究的数据，探讨评估数据质量以及识别有问题的调查问题成因的方法。
本探索性研究采用了定性和定量方法，包括对三项基线调查（以英语、西班牙语、粤语、普通话和越南语进行）的数据进行二次分析。额外数据的收集包括对调查员和访谈员的访谈；对项目开发的观察；焦点小组；出声思考访谈；重测评估调查；以及对不同措辞问题的预测试。
作者确定了三项多民族调查中12个最有问题变量的潜在原因，并从可靠性、有效性和认知过程（解释、记忆检索、判断形成和回答编辑）方面的民族差异，以及文化适宜性和翻译问题方面的差异进行了描述。
多个复杂因素影响多民族调查中的测量，其中许多因素通过标准的数据质量测试既不容易观察到也不容易理解。多民族调查问题最好使用各种定量和定性方法进行评估，这些方法能揭示不同类型和问题成因。
