Research Institute on Quality of Life University of Girona (Spain)

1. Coordinated by:Ferran Casas (ERIDIQV, University of Girona)Developed by:Mònica González, Sara Malo, Carme Montserrat, Dolors Navarro, Irma Bertran, Cristina Domènec and Claudia Sarrión (ERÍDIQV) – and by Jorge C. Sarriera, Angela Paradiso, Anelise L. Rodrigues, Tiago Calza, Rebeca Linhares, Tamiris Kreibich and Fabiane Schultz. (GPPC: Grupo de Pesquisa em psicologia comunitária. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul). Multinational study of children’s well-being and daily activities Format pre-test and instrument testing SPANISH AND BRAZILIAN REPORT Research Institute on Quality of Life University of Girona (Spain) http://www.udg.edu/eridiqv

2. Pre-pilot (1) Goal: To analyse and discuss the format of the questions with the children. Three stages: Researchers gave an explanation of the purpose of questionnaire format testing, and asked each child to help us to design a questionnaire which would be easily understood and answered by children of their same age.

3. The children did some individual work answering questions, talking to the researcher as often as they wished, in order to give them practical experience of answering the same 5 items (on satisfaction with school aspects) in different formats, raising their awareness of format differences. Semi-directed group discussions were organised with about 8 children that had done the individual work. Each child had a folder with 14 different formats of the same items (some formats were identical to those in the individual work and some different). Children were asked about the pros and cons of each format and to suggest the best formats for our purposes – including ideas that were not in any of the formats on the table. Pre-pilot (2)

4. (a) About the 5 items: (1) Phrasing, understanding, alternatives. (2) Capital letters or not. (3) Each item on one line or not. (4) Each item with borders/frame or not. (5) Each answer with borders/frame or not. (6) Items alternatively shaded or not. (b) About the scale: (1) Different ranges (5, 6, 7, 10, 11 points). (2) With numbers and with neutral value (0-10, 0-7) or without neutral value (1-6, 1-10). (3) Without numbers (1-5). (4) With faces/emoticons. (5) With numbers inside or outside frames. (6) With numbers at the top of blocks of answers, or with numbers at each answer/line. (7) If numbers on each line, the number above or inside the boxes. Format aspects that were discussed (1)

5. (c) Labels on the scale: (1) End-labelled. (2) Labels at the ends and in a neutral point. (3) Labels for all values. (d) Direction of the scales: (1) bipolar. (2) unipolar positive. (3) unipolar negative. (e) Contents: What is best understood? Does it have the same meaning? (1) Happy (2) Satisfied (3) Content Format aspects that were discussed (2)

6. Examples of formats (1)

7. Examples of formats (2)

8. Examples of formats (3)

9. When children were asked to help us as researchers, they all became impressively cooperative and highly motivated to do both the individual work and the group discussion. All other conclusions from this pre-pilot always have at least one exception; i.e. there is always at least one child of each age who does not understand some of the formats or questions raised, or at least one who claims to have a better understanding of a format other than the one most children identify as the clearest. Most children of all three age groups consider that any of the presented formats can be understood at their age. However, some formats require much more time to read and understand than others, and are therefore not as “easy”. Shading alternate lines makes questions much easier to read without mistakes. Some summarised results: (1) For all ages

10. The key to the children clearly understanding the formats lies in the researchers providing explanations and investing time answering questions and interacting with them. Explanations given by other children often brought them to faster understanding than those given by researchers. Faces/emoticons are considered to be both attractive and easy to understand. However, they are only considered appropriate for “the easy questions” - “difficult” (and “serious”) questions require other formats according to 10-year-olds (Brazil) and 12-year-olds (Spain). Repeating the questions is boring. Reading again and again is very time-consuming. Similar items should be grouped. A few children from each age group report that it is easier to have each question on only one line, but most report to understand any question equally if it is on two lines. Some summarised results: (2) For all ages

11. Some 8-year-olds were faster than most 12-year-olds doing the individual work. We re-checked their comprehension, but it did not seem to be worse. Most prefer faces/emoticons, but not all of them. Most children report to equally understand capital and lower-case letters. Some prefer capitals (most in Brazil) and a few prefer lower-case letters. Some children reported that “satisfaction”, “happy” and “content” are ”adults words” for the same meaning. “Content” is the most common among children Some children suggested avoiding “technical” words and were often active in proposing easier words and phrasings. Some summarised results: For 8-year-olds

12. If a scale has numbers, most 8-year-olds in Spain consider that a 0-10 scale is easier to understand than other ranges. Some say they do not have a preference, because they understand all of them. If the scale has numbers, most consider the numbers easier to understand if they are in a box. Some others prefer “no numbers”, but titles in the columns. But most say they have no preference and are able to understand any option. In Spain they seem to consider bipolar scales easier to understand, but this point remains unclear. In Brazil they consider unipolar scales easier. Some summarised results: For 8-year-olds

13. Most prefer faces/emoticons, but some prefer numbers. Most children report to equally understand capital and lower-case letters. The others prefer lower-case. If a scale has numbers, in Spain most say that a 0-10 scale is the easiest to understand. Some prefer other ranges and some say that all are equally understandable. In Brazil they consider labels on all numbers make it easier to understand. If the scale has numbers, they consider the number easier to understand if inside a box. They seem to consider unipolar positive scales easier to understand, both in Spain and Brazil, but this point remains unclear. Some summarised results: For 10-year-olds

14. Some children reported that “satisfaction”, “happy” and “content” are different words with the same meaning. However, they seem to consider that “content” is the easiest to understand both in Spain and Brazil. The meaning they give to “satisfaction” is unclear. Most consider “to be happy” and “to be content” as synonymous, but they seem to consider “content” easier to understand. Although they consider emoticons nice, some children, particularly in Brazil, pointed out that “looking at the faces different children may clearly understand different things for each face”. In Spain they insisted that colourful questionnaires are less boring. Some summarised results: For 10-year-olds

15. Faces/emoticons are “nicer” and best for “easy questions”, but end-labelled 11-point scales are the second best format and they say it gives more possible answers for “complex” questions. If a scale has numbers, most consider a 0-10 scale easier to understand and “more precise”, but all options are considered equally easy by others. Scales with a label at the middle point are considered “more difficult” to understand. They seem to consider unipolar positive scales easier to understand, but this point remains unclear. They understand “satisfaction”, “happy” and “content”. “Satisfaction” is considered more “formal language” or more “adult language”. The differentiation they make between “happy” and “content” is unclear, a few say they are very different, others not. Some summarised results: For 12-year-olds

16. For 8-year-olds, scales with faces/emoticons seem to be best. However, a few items with scales of any range, including 0-10, can be included. For 10-year-olds, a mixture of faces/emoticons and scales with numbers seems to be best. Scales should be for the questions considered more “difficult” or “serious” by children. For 12-year-olds, most items included can be on a 0-10 scale. However, they say a colourful questionnaire gives a sense of it “being nice”. Emoticons could be included for questions they consider “easy”. Provisional conclusions regarding format from the Catalan and Brazilian contexts (1)

17. Whichever option is used, a number of children may not understand the format. Researchers must be as open as possible to dialog with the surveyed children of these ages in order to facilitate their understanding of the format of the questionnaire and the purpose of the research. Further research should be done into what makes questions “easy”, “difficult” and “serious”. In principle, “difficult” questions seem to be those that make the child think for a while. It is better to have grouped items, than repeating the same question for every item. Alternative shading of the items makes them easier to follow. Provisional conclusions regarding format from the Catalan and Brazilian contexts (2)

18. 12-year-olds consider that end-labelled scales are easier to understand than scales with a label on the neutral value. This probably means that unipolar scales are clearer. More testing must be done on the understanding of unipolar and bipolar scales at these ages. In Brazil, unipolar positive scales seem to be better understood The term “content” seems to be easier to understand among 8 and 10-year-olds than “happy” or “satisfied”, both in Brazil and in Spain. 12-year-olds seem to understand “satisfied” perfectly, although they consider it “formal adult language”. However, more testing will be needed on the differences attributed to each of these concepts at each age. Provisional conclusions regarding format from the Catalan and Brazilian contexts (3)

19. Decisions taken: format used with 8 y.o.

20. Decisions taken: format used with 10 y.o.

21. Decisions taken: format used with 10 y.o. To what extent do you currently feel satisfied with each of the following things in your life?

22. Testing the 3 questionnaires with the adopted format (Catalonia only) (1):

23. We based our questionnaires on the Israeli version, including many agreement/disagreement items. We deleted explanations at the beginning for the 8 and 10-year-olds. We made explanations verbal. We deleted many socio-demographic items, or placed them in the appendix. We placed some other items in the appendix, in order to use a short version of each Q as a basis. We added new items on satisfaction with the city (village/neighbourhood) services and living conditions. We also changed the phrasing of some agreement/disagreement items regarding the city, and added some others. Testing the 3 questionnaires with the adopted format (Catalonia only) (2):

24. In the 12 y.o. Q we added one scale on values aspired to. In the 10 and 12 y.o. Q we added a set of items about self-categorization as a media consumer. We added “I don’t know” to many items. Children were told they should understand “Not appropriate” as “I do not know”. Children who filled in their Q very fast were given an “appendix” with additional items. Most children of all ages finished their Q in about 40 minutes. Many had time to fill in the appendix as well. Testing the 3 questionnaires with the adopted format (Catalonia only) (2):

25. The 8-year-olds’ Q provoked very few questions. Reading skills were clearly better in private schools than in public schools. Many children complained about the inclusion of very sensitive “personal” questions (religion, being wealthy). Phrasings about city/village/neighbourhood services may need adaptations according to the context (rural, semi-urban, big city). Different language-specific issues arise according to the individual cultural and social context, and these need to be discussed with children. Testing the 3 questionnaires with the adopted format (Catalonia only) (2):

26. Spanish 8 and 10-year old children had problems answering the following items: Pocket money I would like my town to be greener Going to sleep hungry Feeling secure at home (doubt: when alone or when with relatives?) Religion or spirituality Adults at home having a paid job. Calculating time invested in different activities. However, they can report the time each activity starts and finishes. Testing the 3 questionnaires with the adopted format (Catalonia only) (3):

27. At 8 years old reading skills are very varied (i.e. in Brazil most children start school and reading when they are 7 y.o.). However, there is something perhaps more important: they want to give quick answers. They avoid nuance – i.e. they quickly look for the significant part of the question and “skip” the statement. In general, 8-year-olds need short, concrete questions. Reading the instructions for the questionnaire is too time-consuming for 8 and many 10 y.o. In a group administration context it is much better to give them verbal explanations and answer all the questions they raise. Trained researchers should also allow clarifications by peers – but only focused on understanding the format and questions and avoiding “contamination” of the answers. Testing the 3 Q: General observations (1)

28. There is a big gap between 10 and 12-year-olds with regard to their understanding of complexity and more abstract words. 12 y.o. have an outstanding interest to seek out nuances and be precise. Testing the 3 Q: General observations (2)

29. Coordinated by:Ferran Casas (ERIDIQV, University of Girona)Developed by:Mònica González, Sara Malo, Carme Montserrat, Dolors Navarro, Irma Bertran, Cristina Domènec and Claudia Sarrión (ERÍDIQV) – and by Jorge C. Sarriera, Angela Paradiso, Anelise L. Rodrigues, Tiago Calza, Rebeca Linhares, Tamiris Kreibich and Fabiane Schultz. (GPPC: Grupo de Pesquisa em psicologia comunitária. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul). Multinational study of children’s well-being and daily activities Format pre-test and instrument testing SPANISH AND BRAZILIAN REPORT Research Institute on Quality of Life University of Girona (Spain) http://www.udg.edu/eridiqv