The Value of Cognitive Interviewing

• In Event: Improvements in Knowledge Development

Abstract

The current study reports on results from an examination of the Youth Risk Profile Survey, a self-report questionnaire that measures risk and protective factors of justice involved youth. Cognitive interviews were conducted on forty adolescents in order to assess the validity of items on the YRPS. Youth were asked to describe their thought processes while answering questions. Interviewers utilized verbal probing to clarify the youth’s responses and to assess their understanding of items. Four factors were analyzed: comprehension, retrieval, judgment and response. The cognitive interviews identified sources of response error and improved the validity of items on the YRPS. Research implications will be discussed.

Authors

• Jason R. Silva, John Jay College of Criminal Justice / CUNY Graduate Center

• Beth Fera, John Jay College of Criminal Justice / CUNY Graduate Center

• Susruta Sudula, John Jay College of Criminal Justice / CUNY Graduate Center

• Deborah Koetzle, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY

• Craig Schwalbe, Columbia University