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Results of a cross-national structured cognitive interviewing protocol to test measures of disability

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Abstract

This paper describes the Washington Group project to test a short battery of disability questions developed for national censuses. The study used an unusually structured cognitive test protocol and was administered to a total of 1,290 respondents selected from convenience samples in fifteen countries in Central and South America, Asia and Africa. The test protocol consisted of the six core disability questions followed by questions designed to illustrate: (1) whether core questions were administered with relative ease; (2) how core questions were interpreted by respondents; (3) the factors considered by respondents when forming answers to core questions; and (4) the degree of consistency between responses to core questions and a set of more detailed functioning questions. Additionally, demographic and general health sections allowed for an examination of comparability, specifically, whether test questions performed consistently across all respondents, or if nationality, education, gender or socio-economic status impacted the ways in which respondents interpreted or considered each core question.

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Correspondence to Kristen Miller.

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The findings, interpretations and conclusions expressed herein are those of the authors, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/The World Bank and its affiliated organizations, or those of the Executive Directors of The World Bank or the governments they represent.

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Miller, K., Mont, D., Maitland, A. et al. Results of a cross-national structured cognitive interviewing protocol to test measures of disability. Qual Quant 45, 801–815 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-010-9370-4

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