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The purpose of this section is to provide information from a Responder's
viewpoint.
Selecting and Contacting the Responders.
A Sampling Plan will identify residents by exposure patterns. Then Responders
will be selected by the "Random Digital
Dialing" (RDD) methodology. This is the "Gold Standard" of
telephone sampling methodologies. RDD:
- Randomly generates telephone numbers in target area-code and prefix areas
- Gives every telephone number in the area an equal chance of being called.
- Ensures Responder anonymity, because no responder names are used.
The phone interview
will be completed in a maximum of 25 minutes. It may be interrupted, and
resumed at a later time, still within a 25 minute total maximum time.
The interview
format will
:
- Consist of closed-end questions, i.e. those with
previously defined categories from which the Responder can choose
- Be a Structured Interview - questions are asked
exactly as they are written
- Ask about events in the recent past so that
memory is more reliable
The Interview System
will:
- Use the Computer Assisted Telephone
Interview System (CATI)
- Be monitored to ensure data quality
- Provide capability for non-English speakers
(Spanish, Italian)
- Provide state-of-the-art follow-up procedures
- Provide double data entry and 100% data
verification
- Provide rigorous data cleaning procedures
The information
gathered will seek both the symptoms and
the actual disease status for the Responder and any children in
the household. (Adults will not report on other adults). This information
will include::
- Adult and pediatric respiratory and
cardiovascular diseases
- Hearing impairments
- Input from clinical and epidemiological experts
- Personal History of the
Responder, such as:
- General health and functional health status
- Occupational exposures to respiratory irritants
- Behavioral health risks (smoking, etc.)
- Childhood respiratory disease
- Duration of residency in the study area
- Personal characteristics of the study area residents
- Residential exposures to respiratory irritants
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