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Surveying mentally retarded persons: responsiveness and response validity in three samples.

PubMedPublished 1 March 1980
Sigelman Ck, Schoenrock Cj, Spanhel Cl, Hromas Sg, Winer Jl, Budd Ec
Citations66

TL;DR

In an exploration of the feasibility and utility of survey research with retarded populations, interviews were conducted with 52 institutionalized children, 58 institutionalized adults, and 57 community children, as well as with their parents or attendants and indicated that higher IQ interviewees were generally more responsive to questions, more often in agreement with the nonretarded informants, and less acquiescent on yes-no questions.

Abstract

In an exploration of the feasibility and utility of survey research with retarded populations, interviews were conducted with 52 institutionalized children, 58 institutionalized adults, and 57 community children, as well as with their parents or attendants. Analyses indicated that higher IQ interviewees were generally more responsive to questions, more often in agreement with the nonretarded informants, and less acquiescent on yes-no questions than were lower IQ interviewees. Although these relationships varied in strength from sample to sample, overall differences among samples were nonsignificant. Implications for researchers interviewing retarded persons were discussed.

Keywords

Social SciencesMedicine