Africa Health Research Institute, Mtubatuba, South Africa.
Institute for Global Health, University College London, London, UK.
BMC Med Res Methodol. 2017 Aug 17;17(1):125. doi: 10.1186/s12874-017-0403-8.
Self-interviews, where the respondent rather than the interviewer enters answers to questions, have been proposed as a way to reduce social desirability bias associated with interviewer-led interviews. Computer-assisted self-interviews (CASI) are commonly proposed since the computer programme can guide respondents; however they require both language and computer literacy. We evaluated the feasibility and acceptability of using electronic methods to administer quantitative sexual behaviour questionnaires in the Somkhele demographic surveillance area (DSA) in rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
We conducted a four-arm randomized trial of paper-and-pen-interview, computer-assisted personal-interview (CAPI), CASI and audio-CASI with an age-sex-urbanicity stratified sample of 504 adults resident in the DSA in 2015. We compared respondents' answers to their responses to the same questions in previous surveillance rounds. We also conducted 48 cognitive interviews, dual-coding responses using the Framework approach.
Three hundred forty (67%) individuals were interviewed and covariates and participation rates were balanced across arms. CASI and audio-CASI were significantly slower than interviewer-led interviews. Item non-response rates were higher in self-interview arms. In single-paper meta-analysis, self-interviewed individuals reported more socially undesirable sexual behaviours. Cognitive interviews found high acceptance of both self-interviews and the use of electronic methods, with some concerns that self-interview methods required more participant effort and literacy.
Electronic data collection methods, including self-interview methods, proved feasible and acceptable for completing quantitative sexual behaviour questionnaires in a poor, rural South African setting. However, each method had both benefits and costs, and the choice of method should be based on context-specific criteria.
自我访谈，即受访者而非访谈员输入问题答案，被提议作为一种减少与访谈员主导访谈相关的社会期望偏差的方法。计算机辅助自我访谈（CASI）通常被提议使用，因为计算机程序可以指导受访者；但是，他们需要具备语言和计算机素养。我们评估了在南非夸祖鲁-纳塔尔省农村 Somkhele 人口监测区（DSA）使用电子方法管理定量性行为问卷的可行性和可接受性。
我们对居住在 DSA 的 504 名成年人进行了一项四臂随机试验，比较了纸笔访谈、计算机辅助个人访谈（CAPI）、CASI 和音频-CASI，该试验采用年龄-性别-城市分层样本。我们比较了受访者对相同问题的回答，这些问题在之前的监测轮次中已经问过。我们还进行了 48 次认知访谈，使用框架方法对双重编码的响应进行了比较。
有 340 人（67%）接受了访谈，并且协变量和参与率在各臂之间平衡。CASI 和音频-CASI 明显比访谈员主导的访谈慢。自我访谈臂的项目无应答率较高。在单一纸张荟萃分析中，自我访谈的个体报告了更多的社会不期望的性行为。认知访谈发现自我访谈和电子方法的接受度都很高，但有些人担心自我访谈方法需要更多的参与者努力和读写能力。
电子数据收集方法，包括自我访谈方法，在贫穷的南非农村环境中完成定量性行为问卷是可行和可接受的。然而，每种方法都有优点和缺点，方法的选择应基于具体情况的标准。
