Conducting Cognitive Interviews in Cross-National Settings

This article reviews cognitive interviewing (CI) as a survey pretesting method in cross-national settings. Particularly, semi-structured cognitive interviewing (SSCI) using direct probing is advocated when CI involves multiple countries/languages. Four major groups of fundamental issues are discussed: conceptual, measurement, procedural, and practical. The conceptual issues relate to the nature of interview data, potential sources of problems, and sample size. Next, it is shown how the SSCI method can be used to informally evaluate validity, reliability, and cross-cultural equivalence. This is followed by the procedural steps and the practical issues in implementing cross-national SSCI studies. Some methodological and practical limitations are also noted. The article concludes by highlighting the implications of using the cross-national CI method in a single-country context with multiple immigrant/cultural/language groups or in monocultural settings.