Volume 2: No. 2, April 2005
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
A Note on “A Catalog of Biases in Questionnaires”
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.
To the Editor:
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
Read the author's reply
References
- Choi BCK, Pak AWP. A catalog of biases in questionnaires. Prev Chronic
Dis [serial online] 2005 Jan [Accessed 2004 Dec 15].
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