A QUALITATIVE INVESTIGATION OF THE INFLUENCE OF ETHNICITY ON THE UNDERSTANDING OF THE SELF-RATED HEALTH QUESTION
Rachel Renee Lawson · OhioLink ETD Center (Ohio Library and Information Network) · 2007
Prior research regarding the validity of the self-rated health question has presented data suggesting ethnicity is a barrier when comparing respondent understanding of the self-rated health question.If it can be shown that ethnic minority respondents have an unrecognized understanding of the self-rated health question that would hint at the subjective question being an unreliable measure of health for all ethnic populations.The Jacobson (2004) study was designed to explore this possibility, performing cognitive interviews with a sample (n=74) of diverse ethnic respondents.Respondents were asked the self-rated health question and cognitive questions probing their understanding of the SF-36 questionnaire.The investigation performed in this study was based off analysis of data collected in the 2004 study.This study analyzed responses to the self-rated health question and coded responses to three cognitive questions.Findings suggested ethnic minorities and non-minorities understand the self-rated health question in different manners.iii I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the committee members, the faculty, and staff within the Anthropology Department for their guidance and patience.Nuha, your spiritual guidance and knowledge proves invaluable.To the head of the Anthropology Department at the University of Cincinnati, Dr. Martha Rees, I thank you for providing both an open ear and strong shoulder of confidence when at times I personally felt overwhelmed.Most importantly to my advisor, Dr. Jacobson, who was always there with words of wisdom that I did not always want but most definitely needed to hear and understand, I truly value the significance of those words.On a more personal note I would like to thank my parents who gave me life as well as provided me with the encouragement to not tolerate anything in my life but what I wanted, which ultimately is to study anthropology.Secondly, Dr. Clare Talwalker