The drop-off questionnaire focuses on self-assessments and vignette evaluations, which is the core of the COMPARE project. The COMPARE drop-off questionnaire has two versions: one for younger people (< 65) and one for older people (65+). The questionnaire for the younger people contains more questions that are relevant for labour force participants (e.g., income satisfaction, social contacts, etc.). For older people, the questionnaire contains more questions related to health problems, retirement and the quality of health care.
In COMPARE, vignettes are designed for the following domains, relating to major targets of EU policy:
- Health (mobility, sleep, breathing, emotional health, cognition);
- Work limitations due to health problems;
- Political efficacy and satisfaction with the national political system;
- Quality of health care;
- Well-being and quality of life;
- Poverty and social exclusion;
The vignettes for physical and mental health cover domains that contribute to self-reported overall health. These are mobility, pain, emotional health, sleep, breathing, and cognition.
Example: Mark has no problems with walking slowly. He gets out of breath easily when climbing 20 meters uphill or a flight of stairs. How much of a problem does Mark have because of shortness of breath? (1=none, 2=mild, 3=moderate, 4=severe, 5=extreme).
Vignettes for work limiting disability
These vignettes give descriptions of people with work-related health problems. The vignettes include work-limiting health problems like pain, depression, and cardiovascular diseases. Questions about work-limiting disabilities allow to investigate whether people on disability programs, or people who do not work, give a systematically different evaluation of their own limiting disabilities than working people.
Example: Kevin suffers from back pain that causes stiffness in his back especially at work, but is relieved with low doses of medication. He does not have any other pains than this generalised discomfort. Does Kevin have any impairment or health problem that limits the kind or amount of work he can do? (1=none, 2=mild, 3=moderate, 4=severe, 5=extreme).
Vignettes for well-being and quality of life
These vignettes are aimed to measure quality of live in early old age. As the sample consists of people who are anticipating a move into retirement, or have already moved into retirement one would need a bias-free measure to identify and qualify related quality of life factors in this stage of life across countries. Measures of quality of life and well-being include control, autonomy, self-realisation, pleasure. This project aims to develop more comparable measures of well-being across European countries and socio-economic groups.
Example: John is single, but gets on well with his relatives and has a large circle of friends. They often go out together to attend sporting events, or to have a meal. How satisfied do you think John is with his social contacts (family, friends, etc.)? (1=very satisfied, 2=satisfied, 3=neither satisfied, nor dissatisfied, 4=dissatisfied, 5=very dissatisfied).
Vignettes for quality of employment
Quality of employment is strongly related to socio-economic status and well-being: high quality of employment is associated with higher education levels and better self-perceived health. From a policy point of view it would be interesting to compare quality of employment effects on objective and subjective health across different socio-economic groups (e.g., countries). Given the current incomparability of answers about quality of employment one needs comparable measures for quality of employment.
Example: Sally works 4 days per week and does not experience her job as stressful; she has little say over what she is doing, this is decided by her boss. She feels it is a very secure job. How satisfied do you think Sally is with her job? (1=very satisfied, 2=satisfied, 3=neither satisfied, nor dissatisfied, 4=dissatisfied, 5=very dissatisfied).
Vignettes for health care
The vignettes for health care focus on the evaluation of the health care system. For example, how people evaluate the communication between physician and patient, appreciation of waiting times, or related facilities.
Example: Jenny has been feeling physically ill for a long-time. She goes to the hospital and describes her symptoms to the doctor. The doctor listens and, without giving any explanation, refers her to a nurse, who runs some tests and takes a blood sample. After this, the doctor gives her pills and asks her to come back in a week for the results of the tests, without further explanation. How would you rate how clearly doctors and nurses communicate with Jenny and involve her in decisions about the treatment? (1=very good, 2=good, 3=moderate, 4=bad, 5=very bad).
Vignettes for political efficacy
Political efficacy can be described as the feeling people have that their individual political actions have or can have an impact upon the political process. This project will develop vignettes for political say that fit into the context of the EU.
Example: John is bothered by the air pollution caused by a local firm. It is not dangerous but sometimes leads to a bad smell. The mayor has looked into the problem, but concluded that industrial development is the most important policy right now instead of clean air. How much say does John have in getting the municipality to address issues that interest him? (1=unlimited say, 2=a lot of say, 3=some say, 4=little say, 5=no say at all).
Vignettes for poverty and social exclusion
The vignettes for economic poverty and social exclusion include questions on economic poverty and (lack of) social contacts. Because social exclusion may be related to health problems (i.e., poor health may result in income drop and/or social exclusion) it would be interesting to analyse the relationship between health status and social exclusion. This is one reason why having comparable measures of poverty and social exclusion in SHARE is useful.
Example: Anne is married and has two children; the total after tax household income of her family is €3000 per month. How satisfied do you think Anne is with the total income of her household? (1=very satisfied, 2=satisfied, 3=neither satisfied, nor dissatisfied, 4=dissatisfied, 5=very dissatisfied).
Click here for the vignette questionnaire for respondents younger than 65 years (pdf).
Click here for the vignette questionnaire for respondents aged 65 years or older (pdf).
The CAPI questionnaires are available on the SHARE website.