Interviewer Effects in a Cohort Study: Results from the Massachusetts Women's Health Study
Abstract
Although interviewer error is widely recognized as an important source of variation in epidemiologic investigations, scant published information exists documenting the impact of interviewer variation on study findings. Using data from the Massachusetts Women's Health Study, a population-based cohort study of 2,569 middle-aged women (1982-1987), the authors evaluated interviewer variation in responses to different types of questions, and assessed the impact of interviewer variation on inferences derived from study data. Respondent sociodemographic and lifestyle characteristics were similar for the four study interviewers at the first follow-up. No interviewer variation was detected for questions concerning recall of specific events, but responses to questions regarding recall of subjective or personal information or those which required further probing did differ significantly by interviewer. Adjustment for interviewer effects had no impact on the conclusions obtained from one analysis of predictors of depression, despite significant interviewer variation in the outcome and predictor variables, but it did change conclusions from an analysis of the impact of support networks on psychological symptoms, wherein the interviewer variable was strongly related to the outcome after data were controlled for predictor variables. Given these findings, examination of data for interviewer effects is advisable despite incorporation of quality control measures in a study's design.
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Interviewer bias can occur if interviewers are aware of the study hypothesis and subconsciously or consciously gather data selectively.
“'Interviewer bias' can occur if interviewers are aware of the study hypothesis and subconsciously or consciously gather data selectively [ 70 ].”
From Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE): Explanation and Elaboration (2007) · cites this paper as [70]
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“‘Interviewer bias’ can occur if interviewers are aware of the study hypothesis and subconsciously or consciously gather data selectively [70].”
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- Authors
- Johannes, C. B., Crawford, S. L., & McKinlay, J. B.
- Affiliations
- New England Research Institutes (US)
- Corresponding author
- Johannes, C. B.
- Venue
- American Journal of Epidemiology
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 1997-09-01
- Volume
- 146
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 429-438
- ISSN
- 0002-9262 (ISSN-L)
- 1476-6256
- OpenAlex
- W1964894088
- Cited by
- 34
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 1 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 1 · 2017: 1 · 2016: 3 · 2014: 1 · 2013: 1 · 2012: 1
- FWCI
- 1.58
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- American Journal of Epidemiology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Network (American Medical Association) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health (2r01ag003111-09a1)
- National Institute on Aging (AG 03111)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Survey Methodology and Nonresponse
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Statistics, Probability and Uncertainty › Reliability and Agreement in Measurement
- Physical Sciences › Mathematics › Statistics and Probability › Statistical Methods in Epidemiology
- Keywords
- interviewer effects, middle-aged women, depression, social support networks, psychological symptoms
- MeSH terms
- Depression, Female, Humans, Massachusetts, Menopause, Middle Aged, Predictive Value of Tests, Prospective Studies, Telephone, Effect Modifier, Epidemiologic, Logistic Models, Odds Ratio, Women's Health
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