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The Context of HIV Risk Among Drug Users and Their Sexual Partners

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eliability. It seems obvious that questions need to be clear to the<br />

respondent, whether structured or nonstructured interview methods are<br />

used. For example, one woman self-identified as bisexual because “it’s<br />

only me <strong>and</strong> my husb<strong>and</strong>.” Words should be selected that are familiar to<br />

the population(s) under study. Involving representatives <strong>of</strong> the study<br />

group during instrument preparation is one helpful approach. Pilot<br />

testing <strong>and</strong> pretesting are essential. In <strong>HIV</strong>/AIDS studies using<br />

questions—whether written or oral, structured or unstructured—<br />

deliberate steps need to be taken to vary the positive-negative direction <strong>of</strong><br />

questions <strong>and</strong> prevent respondents’ inference <strong>of</strong> desirable responses.<br />

<strong>Risk</strong> behaviors, especially when evaluating before-after interventions, are<br />

quite transparent with respect to what is good <strong>and</strong> bad. <strong>The</strong> same<br />

information needs to be sought in different ways <strong>and</strong> in contexts that are<br />

not conducive to bias. A case in point occurred in the author’s research,<br />

when an individual gave an affirmative reply that he or she had increased<br />

condom use since hearing about AIDS (Brunswick, unpublished data).<br />

Earlier in the interview, however, the same respondent reported no<br />

current condom use. <strong>The</strong> author has little faith in direct questions about<br />

changing specified actions because <strong>of</strong> AIDS as a valid measure <strong>of</strong> actual<br />

behavior, although responses might be useful as measures <strong>of</strong> changing<br />

awareness <strong>of</strong> risk behaviors.<br />

Wording questions to elicit intentions to perform certain actions, behavior<br />

preferences, <strong>and</strong> actual behavior practices are distinctions dem<strong>and</strong>ing<br />

particular attention. Each <strong>of</strong> these questions reflects a different reality,<br />

just as the perceived environment (e.g., what is reported by the individual<br />

about another’s behavior) differs from objective reality. <strong>The</strong> distinctions<br />

can be informative, but these questions cannot be used as proxies for one<br />

another (e.g., Would you want to know if you were infected? Would you<br />

want your partner to know? Would you tell him/her? Did you tell<br />

him/her?).<br />

<strong>The</strong> order or context in which questions are presented also influences<br />

responses. Colasanto <strong>and</strong> colleagues (1992) elicited a significant<br />

difference (9 percent) in agreement responses by varying the order <strong>of</strong><br />

survey questions regarding transmissibility <strong>of</strong> AIDS through blood<br />

donation. <strong>The</strong> difference hinged on whether a question about AIDS <strong>and</strong><br />

blood donation preceded or followed another question about whether<br />

AIDS could be transmitted through blood transfusion. <strong>The</strong> sample who<br />

was asked about donation first had the higher proportion who accepted<br />

the erroneous mode <strong>of</strong> transmission. <strong>The</strong> authors believe that asking first<br />

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