Description of the Two Questionnaire Formats

There are numerous benefits of computer-assisted interviewing (CAI) for data quality and ease of interviewing, but one of the challenges CAI poses is how best to represent the computer-programmed interview on paper. The questionnaires for the NSFG Cycle 6 are available in two formats:

CAPI-Lite format
CAPI Reference Questionnaire (CRQ) format

Both formats represent the basic content and routing of the full NSFG interviews, including the computer-assisted personal interviews (CAPI) administered by interviewers and the audio computer-assisted self-interviews (ACASI) that respondents completed on their own.  However, each format of the questionnaire offers users a different level of detail and perspective on how the interview was conducted.

CAPI-Lite format

The male and female interviews are shown in their entirety, but with abridged representations of the question wording variants and shorter descriptions of skip patterns through the interview.  With this format, users can still get a clear picture of how the questions were asked, in what order, and of which respondents.  The full male and female interviews (male Sections A-K and female Sections A-J) are each available as PDF files:
C6female_capiliteMar03final.pdf
C6male_capiliteMar03final.pdf

CAPI Reference Questionnaire (CRQ) format

The CRQ represents the fully detailed specifications for the interview that NSFG staff provided to the computer programmers who created the instrument using the Blaise software system.

All question wording variants are shown, along with the conditions defining when each variant should be used.

“Flow Checks” specify the precise routing through the interview based on earlier questionnaire items so that the appropriate next questions for a particular respondent appear onscreen.  In addition, in some instances flow checks are devoted to the creation of a new variable from one or more of the "raw," or "asked" variables.  These are called "computed variables" and are described in other sections of the User's Guide.  The flow check specifies in detail how these computed variables were defined.  A summary list of computed variables defined in each questionnaire section can be found at the beginning of each section's CRQ, and those that are “passed forward” to be used for routing later in the interview are listed at the end of each section’s CRQ.

 “Edit checks,” programmed into the instrument, attempt to catch and resolve data inconsistencies in the field, rather than requiring resolution after data collection.  These consistency checks are generally located in the CRQ after the questions they are intended to reconcile, and enabled the interviewer to return to specific questionnaire items and correct them if necessary.

Use of additional survey aids, such as Show Cards, Help Screens, and the Life History Calendar (female interview only), is noted on individual questionnaire items.  For example, if a question-specific help screen (accessible via the F1 key) was available for an item, the CRQ indicates “[HELP AVAILABLE].”  If the item’s response choices were to be shown on a Show Card in the interviewer’s show card booklet, the CRQ indicates the number of the show card along with the response categories.

The CRQ for each section of the male and female interviews is available as a separate PDF file.  (For example, AfemC6CRQ.pdf is the CRQ for female Section A.)