INTERACTIVE SOFTWARE FOR SELF-REPORTED DIET ASSESSMENT

THE PRIMARY OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROJECT IS TO DEVELOP AND TEST INTERACTIVE MICROCOMPUTER SOFTWARE FOR A SELF-REPORTED DIETARY ASSESSMENT INSTRUMENT. THE FRAMEWORK FOR DIETARY ASSESSMENT IS A STEPWISE FOOD GROUP SELECTION AND QUANTIFICATION OF THE RESPONDENT'S USUAL (OR TIME REFERENCED) INTAKE THIS PROJECT IS AIMED AT SOLUTIONS TO PROBLEMS OF RESPONDENT BURDEN, RELIABILITY, VALIDITY, AND TIMELINESS OF DATA REPORTING THROUGH THE APPLICATION OF MICROCOMPUTER TECHNOLOGY TO AN IMPROVED QUESTIONNAIRE DESIGN. THE SOFTWARE TO BE DEVELOPED IN PHASE I WILL HAVE THE FOLLOWING FEATURES, WHICH ARE MARKED IMPROVEMENTS OVER CURRENT METHODS:QUERIES INCLUDING QUALITY ESTIMATIONS ARE PRESENTED TO RESPONDENTS IN A UNIFORM WAY. SINCE RESPONDENTS INTERACT WITH PERSONAL COMPUTERS DIRECTLY, INTERVIEWER VARIABILITY AND POSSIBLE BIAS ARE CODING AND QUANTITY CONVERSIONS ARE COMPUTER GENERATED, THEREBY ELIMINATING A TEDIOUS, TIME CONSUMING PROCESS, AS WELL AS CODING ERRORS. FRAMES OF QUESTIONS ARE MODULAR, AND CAN BE PRESENTED TO RESPONDENTS IN A SELECTIVE FASHION, DEPENDING ON STUDY NEEDS AND FOOD ILLUSTRATIONS, RATHER THAN TEXT LISTINGS, SERVE AS SELECTION CUES, THUS INCREASING THE VISUAL APPEAL OF THE PROGRAM. THE ABOVE FEATURES WILL BE FULLY DEVELOPED AND TESTED IN PHASE II OF THIS PROPOSED PROJECT.