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Retrospective Questions and Correlations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2025

Dirk Sikkel and
Gerard Jelierse
Dirk Sikkel*
Affiliation:
Netherlands Central Bureau of Statistics
Gerard Jelierse
Affiliation:
Netherlands Central Bureau of Statistics
*
Requests for reprints should be sent to Dirk Sikkel, Netherlands Central Bureau of Statistics, PO Box 959, 2270AZ Voorburg, THE NETHERLANDS.
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Abstract

In survey research it is not uncommon to ask questions of the following type: “How many times did you undertake action a in reference period T of length τ?.” The relationship is established between τ and the correlation of the number of reported actions with some background variable. To this end it is assumed that the process of actions satisfies a renewal model with individual heterogeneity. Also a model has to be formulated for possible recall effects. Applications are given in the field of medical consumption.

Keywords

renewal theoryrecall effectslatent variablesmeasurement error

Information

Type
Original Paper
Information
Psychometrika , Volume 52 , Issue 2 , March 1987, pp. 251 - 261
Copyright
Copyright © 1987 The Psychometric Society

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Footnotes

The views expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the policies of the Netherlands Central Bureau of Statistics.

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