Public Opinion Quarterly Advance Access originally published online on May 21, 2009
Public Opinion Quarterly 2009 73(2):281-303; doi:10.1093/poq/nfp025
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Taking the Audio Out of Audio-CASI
Address correspondence to Mick P. Couper; e-mail: mcouper{at}umich.edu
Audio computer-assisted self-interviewing (audio-CASI or ACASI) has been widely adopted around the world as a method for eliciting more candid responses to sensitive questions in surveys. While few studies have explored the added advantages audio may bring over text-CASI, those that have (e.g., Tourangeau and Smith, 1996, Public Opinion Quarterly 60(2):275–304) found large effects for self administration over interviewer administration, but only modest additional gains from the audio enhancement. In this paper, we explore the use of audio-CASI versus text-CASI in a national survey of fertility-related issues in the United States (the National Survey of Family Growth). In the pretest, male and female respondents were randomly assigned to audio-CASI (n = 299) or text-CASI (n = 312). We compare the distributions of substantive responses between modes and examine a variety of paradata (e.g., keystroke files, time stamps) to examine the use of the CASI instruments. The main study, which interviewed 7,643 women and 4,928 men aged 15–44 in 2002–03, used audio-CASI only, but again we have a variety of paradata and interviewer debriefing items to examine the extent to which subjects made use of the audio enhancements to CASI. Our results indicate that most respondents make limited use of the audio features of audio-CASI and accordingly the gains produced by this technology are modest relative to text-CASI.
MICK P. COUPER is with the Survey Research Center, University of Michigan, PO Box 1248, Ann Arbor, MI 48106, USA. ROGER TOURANGEAU is with the Joint Program in Survey Methodology, 1218 LeFrak Hall, College Park, MD 20742, USA. THERESA MARVIN is with the Survey Research Center, PO Box 1248, Ann Arbor, MI 48106, USA. This research was supported in part by the National Center for Health Statistics, through the National Survey of Family Growth (contract 200-20000-7001; Robert Groves, Principal Investigator), and by the Survey Research Center, University of Michigan. We thank several reviewers for their helpful suggestions. All views expressed herein and any errors remain our own.