Interviewee

The interviewee is the subject of the questionnaire - they are the person answering the questions. This is often the cohort member or the cohort member's parent. This can change throughout the questionnaire.

The Interviewee should be applied according to the Controlled Vocabulary, see Interviewee (Response Unit). The Interviewee is added when creating a Question Construct.

In a study that follows families, the child is referred to as the “cohort member”, and the child’s parents are referred to as the “main parent of the cohort/sample member”, even though they are technically part of the cohort as well. If a questionnaire asks questions about the child but is completed by the child’s parent, the Interviewee is recorded as “Main parent of cohort/sample member” (see Example 1).

Example 1. Questionnaire: BIB Growing Up Child Survey (Adult Completed)

Archivist layout:

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Sometimes there are instances where an individual may have to answer questions on behalf of another person in the study because that person is unable to answer for themselves. This is when the Interviewee option “Proxy” would be used (see Example 2). However, be aware that before the individual acting as a proxy begins to answer the questions on behalf of the other person, they themselves may be asked questions relating to the proxy interview, like the one below:

Example 2, Questionnaire: US - Wave 5 Questionnaire

Questionnaire layout:

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Archivist layout:

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Here, the person who has just completed the questionnaire is being asked if they can complete a proxy interview on behalf of their partner. At this point, the Interviewee is entered as “Main cohort /sample member”.

The questions then move on to the Main cohort/sample member answering questions on behalf of their partner:

Open

Here, because the participant is now responding on behalf of someone else, the Interviewee would be ‘Proxy’.

Archivist layout:

Open