Answering autobiographical questions: the impact of memory and inference on surveys
- PMID: 3563494
- DOI: 10.1126/science.3563494
Answering autobiographical questions: the impact of memory and inference on surveys
Abstract
Survey questions often probe respondents for quantitative facts about events in their past: "During the last 2 weeks, on days when you drank liquor, about how many drinks did you have?" "During the past 12 months, how many visits did you make to a dentist?" "When did you last work at a full-time job?" are all examples from national surveys. Although questions like these make an implicit demand to remember and enumerate specific autobiographical episodes, respondents frequently have trouble complying because of limits on their ability to recall. In these situations, respondents resort to inferences that use partial information from memory to construct a numeric answer. Results from cognitive psychology can be useful in understanding and investigating these phenomena. In particular, cognitive research can help in identifying situations that inhibit or facilitate recall and can reveal inferences that affect the accuracy of respondents' answers.
Similar articles
-
Recall strategies and memory for health-care visits.Milbank Q. 1990;68(2):171-89. Milbank Q. 1990. PMID: 2233630
-
Strategies for estimating behavioural frequency in survey interviews.Memory. 1998 Jul;6(4):339-66. doi: 10.1080/741942603. Memory. 1998. PMID: 9829096
-
The structure of autobiographical memory and the event history calendar: potential improvements in the quality of retrospective reports in surveys.Memory. 1998 Jul;6(4):383-406. doi: 10.1080/741942610. Memory. 1998. PMID: 9829098 Review.
-
Inferences and recall at ages four and seven.Child Dev. 1985 Oct;56(5):1134-44. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.1985.tb00182.x. Child Dev. 1985. PMID: 4053735
-
The recall of physical activity: using a cognitive model of the question-answering process.Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1996 Oct;28(10):1282-91. doi: 10.1097/00005768-199610000-00012. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1996. PMID: 8897386 Review.
Cited by
-
Momentary Factors and Study Characteristics Associated With Participant Burden and Protocol Adherence: Ecological Momentary Assessment.JMIR Form Res. 2024 Apr 24;8:e49512. doi: 10.2196/49512. JMIR Form Res. 2024. PMID: 38656787 Free PMC article.
-
Exploring the impact of autumn color and bare tree landscapes in virtual environments on human well-being and therapeutic effects across different sensory modalities.PLoS One. 2024 Apr 18;19(4):e0301422. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0301422. eCollection 2024. PLoS One. 2024. PMID: 38635838 Free PMC article.
-
Can Retrospective Reports Provide Accurate Job History Information? A Comparison With Concurrent Reports in a National Prospective Study of Older Adults.Innov Aging. 2024 Feb 23;8(3):igae021. doi: 10.1093/geroni/igae021. eCollection 2024. Innov Aging. 2024. PMID: 38550900 Free PMC article.
-
Prevalence and Correlates of Food and/or Housing Instability among Men and Women Post-9/11 US Veterans.Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2024 Mar 18;21(3):356. doi: 10.3390/ijerph21030356. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2024. PMID: 38541355 Free PMC article.
-
Remote measurement based care (RMBC) interventions for mental health-Protocol of a systematic review and meta-analysis.PLoS One. 2024 Feb 16;19(2):e0297929. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0297929. eCollection 2024. PLoS One. 2024. PMID: 38363769 Free PMC article.
Publication types
MeSH terms
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources
Other Literature Sources
Medical
Miscellaneous