Interaction in the Research Interview and Drug-Related Disclosures among Respondents

Abstract

Interviewers and respondents made judgments about interaction in interviews during a nationwide, cross-sectional survey of drug-related sentiments and cognitions, as well as of patterns of drug use. These data have been analyzed to address two major issues: (1) To what extent did interviewers achieve positive interaction during the interviews, and (2) Are the sentiments, cognitions, and drug use reported by respondents in interviews marked by positive interaction different from reports among respondents in interviews not marked by positive interaction? The data reveal that pronounced variability in interviewer-respondent judgments occurred in unanticipated ways which are related to gender, role, and race/ethnicity of the survey participants. The data reveal, too, that interviews marked by positive interaction, in contrast to interviews with conflicting or negative interaction yielded different respondent cognitions, and somewhat different reports of illicit substance ingestion, but that drug attitudes do not vary by interaction. The conclusion is drawn that the unconventional survey techniques which were developed by the author especially for this study are viable and appropriate.