Pretest and Refinement of Items for Alcohol Highway Safety Surveys

NHTSA - Behavioral Safety Researchhttps://doi.org/10.21949/15252011984PDFResearch PaperHenderson, Naomi H.Verve Research CorporationUnited States. National Highway Traffic Safety AdministrationUnited States. National Highway Traffic Safety AdministrationUnited StatesDrunk drivingHighway safetySurveysData collectionDOT-HS-806-619NTIS-PB85157451DTNH22-83-C-07461Final reportThis study summarizes the procedures employed in pre-testing a set of alcohol-highway safety questionnaire items. The procedures included conducting a set of focus groups and a series of telephone interviews on several forms of the questionnaires. The purpose of the project was to test various forms of the questionnaire items for use on continuing surveys for understanding, interpretability, and response variability. Administration time and degree of response difficulty were also measured. General Findings: Respondents are able to define terms such as "drunk driving", "drinking and driving", and "alcohol impaired driving," but the meanings are not universal. Respondents have some difficulty forecasting probabilities and need probes to delimit answers. When respondents are told, at the beginning of the phone call, that they have been randomly selected and the specific sponsor of the study (e.g. NHTSA), they are more likely to answer a variety of sensitive issues re: drinking and driving. Participant response time on the various forms ranged from a low of 10 minutes to answer 34 questions to a high of 13 minutes to answer 47 questions. The forms are entitled: "General Deterrence" (34 Questions); "Public Information and Education Emphasis Form" (Note: Option 1-without additional questions =35 questions; Option 2-with additional questions =47 questions); "General Deterrence and Public Information/Education Emphasis Form" (44 Questions). A reference set of questions entitled: "Core Questions" is included with a total of 35 questions. /Abstract from report summary page/129