III. Interviewer's
Responsibilities in Administering Protocol
A.
CONTACTING RESPONDENTS
In
the BRIDGES Evaluation Project there are four steps involved in contacting
consumers and conducting interviews.
1.
Eligible
consumers are told of the study by direct service providers from the traditional
service agency (case managers, nurses, job coaches, etc.). Consumers who wish to
find out more about the study sign a “Consent to be Contacted” form.
2.
Consenting
consumers are referred to the site coordinator and lead interviewers from the
BRIDGES Evaluation Project. Project
staff explain the study to them in greater detail, including the
responsibilities of the respondent, the responsibilities of the project staff
and the rights of the respondent.
3.
Respondents are
referred to interviewers for a baseline interview.
At the conclusion of the baseline interview, respondents are randomized
into either participating in BRIDGES plus their traditional services, or
traditional services alone.
4.
Respondents who are
randomized to BRIDGES are referred to the BRIDGES teachers in their area for
enrollment in the course.
Instructions for Contacting
Respondents
Your introduction is crucial
when trying to obtain participants in a project.
It is therefore important that you prepare the introduction in advance,
and to practice several times before contacting people.
It is important to remember that successful introductions take planning,
and practice, and that although the introductions may seem difficult at first,
they will become easier with time. The
following points should be observed with each introduction:
- Immediately give your name and the title of the project/organization with which
you are affiliated.
- Provide brief summary of the project that is non-specific, and does not contain
statements that may introduce bias into the study at a later time. (For example:
- Do not specify that some of your questions are about work and employment.)
- Do not ask questions that may elicit an undesired response. (For example: Are
you too busy to answer some questions?)
- Assume that the respondent is willing to do the interview and you are trying to
find a convenient time.
- Remind the respondents about confidentiality and informed consent procedure.
- Respect the respondent's right to say "No."
Keeping
Track of Contacts
You
will use the telephone contact record or computer database to keep track of your
contact attempts for each person (see Section IIIH “Keeping Track of Contacts
and Completed Interviews”). On a
weekly basis, you will turn in all of your contact sheets or transmit your
electronic contact data to the Site Coordinator.
When you are able to contact the person, please use the following script:
Contact Script
Interviewer: Hello,
my name is _________. I am an
interviewer with the BRIDGES Evaluation Project, a study of consumer-operated
services that is sponsored by Vanderbilt University and the Tennessee Mental
Health Consumers’ Association. You
recently spoke with our staff about the project and indicated that you wanted to
participate.
I am calling to
set up a date and time for an interview with you.
Is this a good time to talk? (If respondent says: “Yes,” continue with next section)
Interviewer: Thank you. Your
participation is very important for the success of this project.
Let me remind you that you will be paid for your time.
Now, we need to set a date and a time.
I have the following dates and times open (read your list of dates and
times). Which of these times work for you? (Decide on a date and time)
We appreciate your cooperation and I look forward to
meeting you on (date and time) at [Site].
(If respondent
says no):
What would be a more convenient time to call in the next day or two?
Let me remind you that you will be paid for the time you spend being
interviewed. (Decide on date and
time for call back)
Once the appointment date and time have been decided,
record this information on your contact sheet.
Go to Exercise #1
B.
HANDLING REFUSALS
If the person does not seem willing to meet with you
to do the interview, never pressure the person. In some cases, however, the person may hesitate or decline
when more information or reassurance from you is needed. You may then use one of the following possible responses in
asking for their participation:
Possible Responses to Refusal
Attempts
Too busy:
We appreciate your time and will pay you for it.
Sorry to have caught you
at a bad time. I would be happy to call back. When would be a good
time
to call in the next day or two?
Feel inadequate:
The questions are not at all difficult. There are no right or
wrong answers. We are concerned about how you feel rather than how
much
you know about certain things. These are questions about your health, your daily
living situation, and your participation in the services at the center. .
Not interested:
It’s very important that we get the opinions of everyone. Otherwise,
the results won’t be very useful. So, I’d really like to talk with you.
Your input is valuable to us and we need your help.
No one’s
business I can certainly understand. That’s
why all of our interviews are confidential. Protecting people’s privacy is one of our major concerns, so we do
not put people’s names on the interview forms. All the results are reported in
such a way that no individual can be linked with any answer.
C.
FOLLOWING CONFIDENTIALITY PROCEDURES
Confidentiality means that the respondent’s name
and identifying information (such as phone number or address), as well as the
information supplied by the respondent during the interview, are to be kept
private. Therefore, you must never
share names or information with anyone else, discuss individual responses, or
show the questionnaire results to another person. During debriefing meetings, you need to discuss the interview
process and any problems you may have experienced; however, you may not refer to
a respondent by name or use other identifying information.
Although you will use the person’s name and
telephone number to make the contact and set up the appointment, these will not
appear on the questionnaire. Instead,
an identification number will be used. The
completed questionnaires will be kept in a box, marked with the interviewer’s
name, in a locked room at the Project office at Vanderbilt University until the
end of the two-month data collection period.
OR the questionnaire information entered in the laptop will be encrypted
for confidentiality and transmitted by email.
The information will also be transferred to a disk and mailed to the
Project office at Michigan State University.
Once the data collection has been completed, the finished materials will
be stored in locked file cabinets at Michigan State University for data
analysis.
It will be your
responsibility to reassure the respondent that their identity and answers to the
questions will be kept confidential, and grouped with other responses for
analysis.
D. INFORMED
CONSENT
A standard request for informed consent will be
conducted prior to each interview.
(forms are in the Appendix).
At the beginning of each interview, you will also review the purpose of
the COSP, tell them why you are asking them to answer questions, and remind them
that they are free to withdraw their consent and participation at any time.
Then you will ask the respondent to read the brief informed consent
statement included in the introduction and sign it.
You cannot begin an interview
until this form has been signed. Instruct
the respondent that this form will be kept confidential and in a locked file.
You will turn in the forms to the field coordinator after completion of
the interview. Some respondents may
decline to sign the consent form. If
this should occur, use the responses to refusals (see IIIB).
If the respondent refuses to sign the consent form, do not conduct the
interview and notify the site coordinator.
E.
USING STANDARDIZED RESPONSES
To prevent bias, there are some explanations that
must be stated in the same way for each respondent and there will be questions
from respondents that must be answered in the same way.
The following list of standardized responses has been prepared for your
use in such situations:
(1) What
is the purpose of this project?
The
purpose of the COSP project is to find out how participating in services that
are operated by mental health consumers (survivors) affects consumers’
(survivors’) life in general and their satisfaction with traditional mental
health services.
(1) What agencies are doing the research?
This
study is sponsored by the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration (SAMHSA), and is coordinated by the Missouri Institute of Mental
Health. It is a national study with
eight sites across the nation. The
study in Tennessee is conducted jointly by the Tennessee Mental Health
Consumers’ Association, by Vanderbilt University and Michigan State
University.
(2)
Why is this research important/needed?
This
research is needed to improve services to many people who are mental health
consumers (survivors). It is very important that we get the opinions of everyone in order to
get useful results. Your
input is valuable to us and we need your help.
(3) How did you get my
name?
Your
service provider [name
of referring provider] from [agency], referred you to us after
you signed the form agreeing that you wanted to learn more about the study to
help you decide whether to participate.
(4) How will the results be
used?
The
results of this study will be used to help policy makers decide how to improve
services to people with psychiatric disabilities.
Go
to Exercise #2
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