Table 2 Verbal probes used in cognitive interviews based on Tourangeau’s four-stage cognitive model of question response
Cognitive or measure component | Verbal probe | Response errors or issues |
|---|---|---|
Follow up on observations | Why did you pause on this? What is going through your mind? | Â |
1) Comprehension | What does [content or term] mean to you? | Unknown terms, ambiguous concepts, long and overly complex |
2) Retrieval/ recall of information | What did you remember when you read this? | Recall difficulty |
3) Judgement/estimation | Describe your experiences with [concept] over the (timeframe) | Biased or sensitive, estimation difficulty |
4) Response Mapping/reporting | How did you select your [response option?] | Incomplete response options |
Overall feedback | Are there things that we do not ask about your child’s care that you think are important? What do you think about the length of the measure? Was it difficult for you to complete the measure? | Relevance, length, participant fatigue |