Peter G. M. van der Heijden

Meta-analysis of randomized response research.

This article discusses two meta-analyses on randomized response technique (RRT) studies, the first on 6 individual validation studies and the second on 32 comparative studies. The meta-analyses focus on the performance of RRTs compared to conventional question-and-answer methods. The authors use the percentage of incorrect answers as effect size for the individual validation studies and the standardized difference score (d-probit) as effect size for the comparative studies. Results indicate that compared to other methods, randomized response designs result in more valid data. For the individual validation studies, the mean percentage of incorrect answers for the RRT condition is .38; for the other conditions, it is .49. The more sensitive the topic under investigation, the higher the validity of RRT results. However, both meta-analyses have unexplained residual variances across studies, which indicates that RRTs are not completely under the control of the researcher.

Couples at Risk Following the Death of Their Child: Predictors of Grief Versus Depression

This longitudinal study examined the relative impact of major variables for predicting adjustment (in terms of both grief and depression) among bereaved parents following the death of their child. Couples (N = 219) participated 6, 13, and 20 months postloss. Use of multilevel regression analyses enabled assessment of the impact of several predictors and facilitated analysis of factors that were either shared by parents or individual. Grief was predicted mainly by shared parent factors: childs age, cause and unexpectedness of death, and number of remaining children. By contrast, depression was predicted by individual parent factors: gender, religious affiliation, and professional help seeking. Theoretical implications of these findings are discussed.

A Comparison of Randomized Response, Computer-Assisted Self-Interview, and Face-to-Face Direct Questioning: Eliciting Sensitive Information in the Context of Welfare and Unemployment Benefit

This article assesses the validity of responses to sensitive questions using four different methods. In an experimental setting, the authors compared a computer-assisted self-interview (CASI), face-to-face direct questioning, and two different varieties of randomized response. All respondents interviewed had been identified as having committed welfare and unemployment benefit fraud. The interviewers did not know that respondents had been caught for fraud, and the respondents did not know that the researchers had this information. The results are evaluated by comparing the percentage of false negatives. The authors also looked for variables that might explain why some respondents admit fraud and others do not. The proportions of respondents admitting fraud are relatively low, between 19 percent and 49 percent. The two randomized response conditions were superior in eliciting admissions of fraud. A number of background variables, notably gender, age, still receiving benefit, and duration and perception of fraud, are related to admitting fraud. Although the randomized response conditions performed much better than face-to-face direct questioning and CASI, the percentage of respondents admitting fraud is only around 50 percent. Some possible reasons for this are discussed.

Patterns of Attachment and Parents' Adjustment to the Death of Their Child

The impact of adult attachment on psychological adjustment among bereaved parents and the mediating effect of relationship satisfaction were examined among a sample of 219 couples of parents. Data collection took place 6, 13, and 20 months after loss. Use of the actor partner interdependence model in multilevel regression analysis enabled exploration of both individual as well as partner attachment as predictors of grief and depression. Results indicated that the more insecurely attached parents were (on both avoidance and anxiety attachment), the higher the symptoms of grief and depression. Neither the attachment pattern of the partner nor similarity of attachment within the couple had any influence on psychological adjustment of the parent. Marital satisfaction partially mediated the association of anxious attachment with symptomatology. Contrary to previous research findings, avoidant attachment was associated with high grief intensity. These findings challenge the notion that the avoidantly attached are resilient.

Point and interval estimation of the population size using the truncated Poisson regression model

A method is presented to derive point and interval estimates of the total number of individuals in a heterogenous Poisson population. The method is based on the Horvitz-Thompson approach. The zero-truncated Poisson regression model is fitted and results are used to obtain point and interval estimates for the total number of individuals in the population. The method is assessed by performing a simulation experiment computing coverage probabilities of Horvitz-Thompson confidence intervals for cases with different sample sizes and Poisson parameters. We illustrate our method using capture-recapture data from the police registration system providing information on illegal immigrants in four large cities in the Netherlands.

Nurse-elderly patient communication in home care and institutional care: an explorative study

This study explores communication patterns between nurses and elderly patients in two different care settings. In a sample of 181 video-taped nursing encounters, involving 47 nurses and 109 patients, a study was made of nurse-patient communication. The video recordings were observed using an adapted version of Roters Interaction Analysis System, which yields frequencies of 23 types of verbal behaviours. These data were analyzed using correspondence analysis, to reduce them to a smaller number of verbal categories, in which two socio-emotional categories and three categories with task-related communication, could be distinguished. For each encounter five summary statistics corresponding to these categories were calculated. Using analysis of variance, it was shown that the amount of socio-emotional interaction in both settings appeared to be higher than was reported in previous studies into nurse-patient communication. Compared with the home for the elderly, communication was more task-related in home care.

Estimating the Size of a Criminal Population from Police Records Using the Truncated Poisson Regression Model

The truncated Poisson regression model is used to arrive at point and interval estimates of the size of two offender populations, i.e. drunk drivers and persons who illegally possess firearms. The dependent capture–recapture variables are constructed from Dutch police records and are counts of individual arrests for both violations. The population size estimates are derived assuming that each count is a realization of a Poisson distribution, and that the Poisson parameters are related to covariates through the truncated Poisson regression model. These assumptions are discussed in detail, and the tenability of the second assumption is assessed by evaluating the marginal residuals and performing tests on overdispersion. For the firearms example, the second assumption seems to hold well, but for the drunk drivers example there is some overdispersion. It is concluded that the method is useful, provided it is used with care.

Trust and Understanding, Two Psychological Aspects of Randomized Response

This study examines two different Randomized Response methods to see whether they evoke sufficient understanding and trust, and ensure fewer evasive answers to socially sensitive questions. Two Randomized Response methods were employed by trained interviewers to study fraud: the Forced Response method, using dice, and Kuks method, using playing cards. Respondents were selected from the files of the social security offices of three Dutch cities. A total of 334 respondents participated voluntarily in this study of two Randomized Response methods. Most respondents were known to have committed some form of fraud, and their answer on the Randomized Response question is validated with this information. The results indicate that subjects who have a better understanding of the Forced Response technique give more socially undesirable answers. The interviewer has a most important role establishing trust and understanding. Respondents who are less able to understand the instructions, e.g., have limited language abilities, develop less trust in the method.

The logistic regression model with response variables subject to randomized response

The univariate and multivariate logistic regression model is discussed where response variables are subject to randomized response (RR). RR is an interview technique that can be used when sensitive questions have to be asked and respondents are reluctant to answer directly. RR variables may be described as misclassified categorical variables where conditional misclassification probabilities are known. The univariate model is revisited and is presented as a generalized linear model. Standard software can be easily adjusted to take into account the RR design. The multivariate model does not appear to have been considered elsewhere in an RR setting; it is shown how a Fisher scoring algorithm can be used to take the RR aspect into account. The approach is illustrated by analyzing RR data taken from a study in regulatory non-compliance regarding unemployment benefit.

Estimating the Concomitant-Variable Latent-Class Model With the EM Algorithm:

Latent class analysis assumes the existence of a categorical latent variable that explains the relations between a set of categorical manifest variables. Simultaneous latent class analysis deals with sets of multiway contingency tables simultaneously. In this way an explanatory categorical grouping variable is related to latent class results. In this article we discuss a tool called the concomitant-variable latent-class model, which generalizes this work to continuous explanatory variables. An EM estimation procedure to estimate the model is worked out in detail, and the model is applied to an example on juvenile delinquency.