General Information:
*Note: The item was tested in German. This is an English translation of the original German wording.*
Question Text:
How often have you met in person over the past two weeks? Please consider both planned and casual encounters.
[Wie häufig haben Sie sich in den letzten 2 Wochen persönlich getroffen? Denken Sie dabei sowohl an geplante Treffen als auch an zufällige Treffen.]
Answer Categories:
Every day [Jeden Tag]
Several times a week [Mehrmals in der Woche]
Once a week [Einmal in der Woche]
Less often [Seltener]
Never [Nie]
Recommendations:
The participants had a consistent understanding of the term “meeting in person” and distinguished their response to Question 4 from their response to Question 3 (contact via telephone or video communication). No participant reported any difficulty answering the question. The results of the pretest indicate that there are no issues with the question, so it can be left in its current form.
Comprehension Probing, Difficulty Probing
Findings for Question:
Testing objectives:
Question 4 was asked for each of the six people selected earlier in Question 2. The purpose of the follow-up questions was to determine what the participants understood by “meeting in person” and whether they had difficulty recalling personal meetings that had taken place in the past two weeks.
Findings:
As Table 3 shows, the participants used the entire range of the scale, and all participants answered the question. The most frequently selected scale points were “Several times a week,” “Once a week,” and “Less often.”
What do respondents understand by “meeting in person”?
All participants understood “meeting in person” to mean direct contact involving conversation and, for example, engaging in shared activities:
- “Being able to see each other in real life—not just over the phone or on a screen—but, for example, having a drink together, chatting, and doing things together.” (TP01)
- “When you meet and talk to each other, you see each other face to face, you hug, you greet each other, and you spend some time together.” (TP03)
- “We work out together, or she comes to see me, or I go to see her—it varies. Or when I go shopping and happen to run into her.” (TP05)
Are there any difficulties in answering the question?
All participants reported that they found the question “somewhat easy” or “very easy” to answer.
Question Topic:
Society & social affairs/ Relationships
Construct:
Frequency of personal contact
