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Impact of Schools Self-Administering Substance Abuse Surveys: An Evaluation

NCJ Number
215353
Journal
Journal of Drug Education Volume: 35 Issue: 4 Dated: 2005 Pages: 255-266
Author(s)
Thomas L. Van Valey; David Hartmann; William Post
Date Published
2005
Length
12 pages
Annotation
This study compared the quality of results obtained from school drug surveys administered by school personnel versus outside research associates.
Abstract
Overall, the results indicated no significant differences in the quality of results obtained from drug surveys administered by school personnel versus those obtained by outside research associates. The few significant differences that were observed were minimal and showed no discernible pattern. The results suggest that there is no need to incur costs by hiring outside research associates to administer drug surveys to student populations. The author suggests the most important aspect to gaining quality results from self-administered drug surveys may be ensuring that the students perceive the situation as one in which they are safe to disclose their behaviors accurately. Participants were 3,756 students in 6 school districts who were randomly divided into 2 groups: 1 group that was administered a drug survey by school personnel and 1 group that was administered the same survey by outside research associates. Both groups were administered the survey with the same materials and the same instructions. One-tailed, two sample tests of proportions were used to determine differences between the rates of use reported by students in each group. Tables, references

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