In general, there are many methods practiced when conducting a cognitive pretest. Including: conventional pretesting, cognitive interviewing, behavior coding, respondent debriefing, group discussion, expert review, eye tracking, and web probing.
Conventional pretesting-This is similar to a rehearsal that tries to imitate and model after what the real test or interview will be like. A simulation of real test or interview that takes place prior to the real one. Whatever method used in the actual interview or test should be used in this method of pretesting.
Cognitive pretesting (cognitive interviewing)- very similar to conventional pretesting. However, the participants are actively being asked about the questions as they take the test. It's conducted during the interview or test.
They can also be presented in multiple different ways including: written surveys, oral surveys, electronic surveys
There are certain techniques that the interviewer implements in cognitive pretesting to extract the information needed to ensure a good interview or questionnaire.
The think-aloud technique- This occurs when the interviewer asks the interviewee to vocalize their thoughts and how they came to their answer. This can be concurrent (during) or retrospective (after) the interview.
Probing technique- This occurs when the interviewer asks the interviewee one or more follow-up questions. They 'probe' about the questions asked, terminology used, or even the responses. Probes can be concurrent (during the task but not to be disruptive of the task) or retrospective (after the task).
Paraphrasing- This occurs when the interviewer asks the interviewee to use their own words to repeat the question. This tests to make sure the questions are understandable.
Confidence rating- This occurs when the interviewer asks the interviewee about their confidence in how correctly they answered the question.
Sorting or Card Sorting- This occurs when the interviewer asks the interviewee or tries to understand how the interviewee categorizes certain situations or even terms.
Vignettes- These are short descriptions of one or more hypothetical characters (similar to vignette used in psychological and sociological experiments or anchoring vignettes in quantitative survey research) and are used to investigate the respondent's cognitive processing with regard to their survey-relevant decisions.
Web probing- This technique implements cognitive interview probing techniques in web surveys. Its strengths include standardization, anonymity, and large and fast coverage because it is administered via the web. However, web probing can only reach online population groups, there is probe nonresponse, and insufficient probe answers from a content perspective cannot be followed up.
Sample size is a very important topic in pretests. Small samples of 5-15 participants are common. While some researchers suggest that it is best if the sample size is at least 30 people and more is always better, the current best practice is to design the research in rounds to retest changes. For example, when pretesting a questionnaire, it is more useful to conduct 3 rounds of 9 participants than 1 round of 27.
There are two different methods of telling participants about the questionnaire: participating pretests and undeclared pretest.
When conducting cognitive interviews in non-English languages, recent research recommend not restricting sample selection and recruitment to non-English speaking monolinguals, which was a common practice by survey researchers. When recruiting hard-to-reach respondents and respondent characteristics via purposive sampling, community-based recruitment (word of mouth, endorsement from community leaders) works better than advertisements.
Cross-cultural cognitive interviewing is practiced to evaluate survey question equivalence and sources of difficulties, as well as to repair problems related to translation. Because of differences in communication styles and cultural norms, adaptations are needed in protocol setup and design, use of vignettes, and verbal probing.
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