VIDEOTAPE TO TRAIN INTERVIEWERS IN SURVEYS OF OLD PEOPLE

THE PURPOSE OF THIS SBIR IS TO DEVELOP AND TEST A TRAINING KIT, INCLUDING A VIDEOTAPE, MANUAL, AND EVALUATION PROTOCOLS, FOR TRAINING INTERVIEWERS FOR SURVEYS OF OLDER PEOPLE. INTERVIEWER TRAINING AND SUPERVISION HAVE BEEN RELATED TO DATA QUALITY YET GENERIC MATERIALS FOR STANDARDIZED TRAINING ARE NOT AVAILABLE COMMERCIALLY. SURVEYS OF OLDER ADULTS PRESENT UNIQUE CHALLENGES TO RESEARCHERS BECAUSE OF THE HETEROGENEITY OF THIS POPULATION, THE EFFECT OF THEIR SOCIAL AND PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS ON BOTH THEIR WILLINGNESS AND ABILITY TO PARTICIPATE IN SURVEYS, AND THE LIKELIHOOD OF "GATEKEEPERS" WHO MIGHT BLOCK THEIR PARTICIPATION OR INFLUENCE THEIR RESPONSES. THESE SITUATIONS REQUIRE SPECIALIZED INTERVIEWER SKILLS. THE VIDEOTAPE IS A TRAINING TOOL THAT CAN PRESENT REALISTIC EXAMPLES OF FIELD SITUATIONS REQUIRING SPECIAL- IZED SKILLS AND DEMONSTRATE APPROPRIATE INTERVIEWER SKILLS. THE VIDEOTAPE IS A TRAINING TOOL THAT CAN PRESENT REALISTIC EXAMPLES OF FIELD SITUATIONS REQUIRING SPECIALIZED SKILLS AND DEMONSTRATE APPROPRIATE INTERVIEWER BEHAVIORS/TECHNIQUES. CURRENTLY ONLY ONE TRAINING VIDEOTAPE REGARDING SURVEY INTERVIEWS OF OLDER PEOPLE EXISTS, BUT IT IS SURVEY-SPECIFIC AND LIMITED TO IN-PERSON INTERVIEWS. WE WILL DEVELOP A TRAINING VIDEOTAPE THAT IS GENERIC, COVERS A WIDE RANGE OF POTENTIAL FIELD SITUATIONS, AND INCLUDES BOTH IN-PERSON AND TELEPHONE INTERVIEWS. THE AIMS OF PHASE I WILL BE TO 1) DEVELOP THE CONTENT AREAS OF THE VIDEOTAPE, 2) PRODUCE A SCRIPT FOR THE ONE-HOUR VIDEOTAPE, AND 3) ARRANGE FOR THE PRODUC- TION OF THE VIDEOTAPE. PHASE II WILL INVOLVE THE PRODUCTION OF THE VIDEOTAPE AND A TEST OF THE VIDEOTAPE'S EFFECT ON SELECT INTERVIEW- ER BEHAVIORS MOST PERTINENT TO INTERVIEWING OLDER RESPONDENTS. THE FINAL PRODUCT AT THE END OF PHASE II WILL BE THE TRAINING KIT (VIDEOTAPE, MANUAL, EVALUATION PROTOCOLS) FOR MASS PRODUCTION AND COMMERCIAL DISTRIBUTION IN PHASE III.