TOPIC 1. The Relationship Between Survey Participants & Survey Researchers
Sociologists have noted a recent social transformation away from long-term contractual relationships. This shift toward short-term contracts in society may result in reduced feelings of civic responsibility (reducing perceptions of the benefits of survey participation), more mistrust of outside entities (increasing concerns about privacy and confidentiality), and less respect for the rights of the other parties in the contract (increasing treatment of respondents as “subjects” rather than “participants” and increasing the possibility of ethical lapses in the treatment of respondents and their data). Respondents’ doubts about the personal or societal benefits of participation, concerns about privacy, and skepticism about promises of confidentiality are some of the numerous reasons for declining rates of participation in surveys. To allay these concerns and increase the probability of response, some researchers emphasize the need to revisit the implied contract between survey participant and survey researcher.
Papers in this session should consider this relationship and its impact on choices to participate in health surveys. Papers are solicited on general issues of trust and mistrust in the participant/interviewer interaction, the “social contract” between participants and interviewers, cross-cultural differences in the participant/interviewer relationship, or ethical issues impacting the relationship. Papers may also focus on methods used to allay concerns about privacy, methods to increase the security and confidentiality of data and describe those methods to participants, or methods to address IRB or HIPAA Privacy Act regulations that (perhaps unnecessarily) highlight the risks of participation and the sensitivity of health information. Alternatively, papers may address changing societal attitudes about personal health data or about health surveys, or methods to enhance participants’ perceptions of the benefits of their participation. Contributed papers on all of these topics are solicited.
TOPIC 2. Challenges of Collecting Survey-Based Biomarker & Genetic Data
Surveys of health behavior increasingly require the collection of biologic specimens to measure exposure, disease, or their surrogates; complex models of the relationship between social and biological processes also require both interview data and biomarkers. The past few years have also seen a dramatic increase in the range of data that can be extracted from relatively noninvasive physical measurements. The collection of such information has transformed the task of the survey interviewer with little consensus on best practice. Moreover, long before the challenges associated with the collection of biomarkers were introduced, genetic epidemiologists have grappled with how best to collect detailed risk factor and family history information from both the survey target and his or her blood relatives. A modality often utilized by epidemiologists and others couples the collection of both biomarkers and detailed family histories. There are formidable challenges to health survey researchers in combining the collection of survey-based social, genetic, and biomarker data.
Presentations in this area will elucidate the challenges—and offer possible solutions—to the collection of survey-based genetic and biomarker data. Invited papers are already planned in the following areas: (1) the practicalities of biomarker collection and the collection of biomarker collection by survey interviewers without medical training; (2) an overview of the current state of the art in analyzing biomarkers collected by interviewers; and (3) approaches to the collection of detailed family history and risk information with and without biomarkers. Contributed papers on other related topics are invited and encouraged.
TOPIC 3. Emergency Preparedness & Surveillance
Emergency preparedness and surveillance is an emerging challenge in health survey methods research. Recent phenomena have triggered a growing need for a set of "best practices" for bioterrorism, disease outbreaks, and disaster surveillance. In this session, new methodologies or adaptations of existing methods will be discussed for the collection and dissemination of relevant and time-sensitive data in response to potential bioterrorism and natural disasters. What role should population-based surveys have in the immediate aftermath of a disaster? What role should population-based surveys have in real-time syndromic surveillance to detect disease outbreaks early? Can population-based surveys facilitate bioterrorism surveillance? What are key attributes of surveys that are part of timely surveillance systems and what are the costs of setting up effective surveillance systems? What baseline information needs to be obtained and available to enhance the effective use of surveys in early detection of disease outbreaks or in disaster response? Can electronic health information systems facilitate bioterrorism surveillance and disaster response? What analytic methods exist for real-time syndromic surveillance to detect disease outbreaks early? Can informative survey investigations and analytic methods be designed and implemented so they will not hinder other public health response efforts following a disaster? What are the ongoing challenges and next steps for the future related to surveys, bioterrorism, and disaster response? Contributed papers on all topics related to this emerging area of research are solicited.
TOPIC 4. Tradeoffs in Health Survey Design
Total survey design and total survey error operate in a “total survey cost” environment, but the relationship between design and cost is poorly understood and often ignored. In today's climate of declining response rates and severe cost constraints, it is difficult to articulate the relationship but imperative to make it explicit. This session will focus on tradeoffs between design and costs. Areas of interest include cost modeling, estimation (ratios), paradata and responsive design, the use of administrative data such as medical records to reduce costs or improve data quality, and how to create practical cost models and enhance comparability across projects, organizations, and modes. An invited paper is planned on cost model comparisons of major modes. Contributed papers on all other topics in this area are solicited.
TOPIC 5. Measurement Error & Health Disparities
Substantial effort is being devoted nationally to the problem of identifying and addressing health disparities. Because survey research is often used to investigate cross-group differences, it is critical to ensure that measurement artifacts are not misinterpreted as evidence of the presence or absence of health disparities. This session will explore the problem of measurement error in health survey research, with a focus on cross-group comparisons. Papers are invited that address relevant issues, including validity and reliability of health data; variability in the validity of health reporting across population subgroups; disparities in health conditions and behaviors vs. disparities in the validity of health reporting; the challenges of uniform measurement methods across diverse communities; the impact of different measurement methods on validity, reliability, and comparability of estimates; accuracy of survey-based estimates of health behaviors and conditions relevant to other data sources; and the development and/or testing of theoretical models concerned with measurement error problems in health survey research. Meta-analyses that summarize the reporting accuracy of health conditions or behaviors across populations are also solicited.
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