Report of Cognitive Research
on Proposed American Community Survey Disability Questions
Kristen Miller, Theresa J. DeMaio
KEY WORDS: cognitive interviewing; disabilities
ABSTRACT
This report documents the results of 5 rounds of cognitive interviewing conducted jointly by SRD and the National Center for Health Statistics to develop revising disability questions for the 2005 American Community National Content Test. This work was guided by the Interagency American Community Survey Disability Working Group. Tested questions focused on hearing, vision, cognitive functioning, lower mobility, upper mobility, daily activities, and work. The results showed that the inclusion of assistive devices (hearing aids, glasses, crutches) was beneficial in some cases but not in others; the content and order of factors measuring cognitive functioning (remembering, learning, making decisions, concentrating) impacted how respondents interpreted the question; and questions about work disability were not understood uniformly by respondents.
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