American Journal of Evaluation Construction Asking Questions about Behavior: Cognition, Communication, and Questionnaire on Behalf Of: American Evaluation Association Asking Questions about Behavior: Cognition, Communication, and Questionnaire Construction

Asking Questions About Behavior: Cognition, Communication, and Questionnaire Construction

Evaluation researchers frequently obtain self-reports of behaviors, asking program participants to report on process and outcome-relevant behaviors. Unfortunately, reporting on one’s behavior poses a difficult cognitive task, and participants’ reports can be profoundly influenced by question wording, format, and context. We review the steps involved in answering a question about one’s behavior ...

Are We Asking All the Right Questions About Quality of Care in Low- and Middle-Income Countries?

Linguistic Construction of a Winning Apology

The study analyzes the apology delivered by the then-democratic Presidential contender in 2007, Senator Barack H. Obama, to the Indian-American community. This apology succeeded in convincing American citizens of Obama’s goodwill and clean political standards, which eventually led him to surpass his chief opponent, Senator Hillary R. Clinton and become the President of the United States. The st...

Teacher Cognition and Personal Beliefs: A Harmonious Mismatch?

Some engravings are meant to be adored and some possibly abhorred. Teacher cognition, as a meant-to-be-praised engraving, is defined by Borg (2003, p. 81) as “the unobservable cognitive dimension of teaching what teachers know, believe, and think.” This concept in teaching has recently gained momentum meaning that teachers learn so much about their teaching through the vast experience they have...

Should we ask our Children about Sex, Drugs and Rock & Roll?: Potentially Harmful Effects of Asking Questions About Risky Behaviors.

Research shows that asking questions can fundamentally change behavior. We review literature on this question-behavior effect, which demonstrates that asking questions changes both normal and risky behaviors. We discuss potential explanations for the effect and review recent findings that reveal interesting moderators of the influence of questions on behavior. We then highlight the potential im...