Ines Sučić

Conducting Cognitive Interviews With Young Children —Experiences From the Measuring Youth Well-Being Project

This case study is based on our work within the Measuring Youth Well-Being FP7 EU project in (a) developing a research design for cross- cultural cognitive interviews for testing a survey’s well-being questions with young children (aged 7 and 8), (b) coordinating fieldwork in six countries, and (c) conducting these interviews in Croatia. This case study describes the main issues and challenges in developing research designs, as well as obstacles and strategies implemented during cross-country fieldwork. More specifically, this case study discusses (a) the main elements of research design, (b) obtaining ethical approval and parental consent, (c) fieldwork experiences regarding children’s reactions and behavior during cognitive interviews, (d) duration and context of interviews, and (e) strengths and weaknesses of the applied study protocols and probes. We believe that this case study will be useful to those who wish to use cognitive interviews with children for testing survey questions regardless of survey topics

How to Develop Well-Being Survey Questions for Young Children: Lessons Learned from Cross-Cultural Cognitive Interviews

There are several major challenges related to conducting cross-cultural well-being surveys, which are even more pronounced when respondents are young children. In order to explore how young children from different countries understand, interpret and process well-being survey questions, within the MYWeB project, the cognitive interviews (CI) study was conducted with young children in six European countries. The specific research objective was to test new/adapted measures of well-being, and the CI testing was focused on comprehension and appropriateness of items and exact wording, recall and judgement in the given time frames, and the given response format among young children. The CI study was conducted in three consecutive rounds, in total, 77 seven year-olds and 118 eight year-olds (N = 195) were interviewed by 26 interviewers. The chapter discuss the main findings and presents general recommendations on how to develop and conduct a well-being survey that is age-appropriate for young children.

Security as the Basis Behind Community Policing: Croatia’s Community Policing Approach

The function of police in a contemporary democratic society in which the security norms have become a fundamental value, places the emphasis on prevention activities not only on criminal acts, but also on antisocial behaviour. The description of the role of police in the community and of police tasks in legal texts, such as the Police Act and the Act on Police Duties and Authorities, are a very important means for understanding the police as a social institution and service. From the adoption of the strategy on police actions in the community to the present day, the Croatian police have implemented a wide range of activities at the local, national and international level to strengthen and maintain all three dimensions that describe the Croatian approach to Community Policing. Community policing is not simply a technique or police tactic but a strategy that requires commitment and that would gain momentum with increased faith in the police as a community institution. This chapter discusses how the conditions were put into place for Community Policing in Croatia and outlines the implementation and execution of this strategy through the prevention-based EUCPN project.

Well-Being, Motives and Experiences in Live and Online Game Settings: Case of Contract Bridge

Traditional mind sports are extremely suitable for online environment, so various specialized platforms, were developed for this purpose. Although online games are technically superior and popular, many players argue that online play lacks “the game spirit”. The aim of this article was to compare motives and experiences of live and online games of Bridge. The authors conducted ten semi-structured online interviews with bridge players. All participants confirmed that Bridge significantly Improved their quality of life. The participants reported benefits in accordance with Major (2001) serious leisure benefits and partially in accordance with the DRAMMA model of five factors related to leisure activities (Newman, Tayand, & Diener, 2014). Results showed that online bridge was generally perceived as less challenging and demanding, but appropriate for training purposes. The most important difference in motivation is related to boredom – frequent motive of online bridge, while not existent in live settings.

Community policing in support of social cohesion

Community Policing has a significant role in mediating and/or moderating interrelatedness of crime and collective (dis)organisation. This chapter discusses concepts of community cohesion, integration and resilience as well as the role of (in)formal social control in determining the level of community crime rates and safety. Special attention is given to the factors that suppress and promote community cohesion, the general overview of the efficacy of Community Policing programs and how they should be improved in order to more strongly support community cohesion.