In many questionnaire based surveys, it's often a limitation to consider recall bias. Is there any methods that can help researchers to minimize recall bias of their study participants.
In psychological evaluation there are several thecniques in order to reduce recall bias. However those are used in the context of interviews. Surveys have time and methodological constrains. As far as I know some "exposure reconstruction" techniques habe been proposed for case control studies.
By the other hand, I know that psychometric research has shown that is hard for people to answer considering different timeframes (durig the last week, over the last year, etc.)
One thing is you can structured the questionnaire in such a way that the event is in chronological order; starting from the most recent ones. You can also frame your methodology in such a way that recall bias can be kept to minimum for example recruiting recently diagnosed cases, using probing phrase and maybe you can also statistically adjust for the missing information in you cannot control recall bias the conventional way.
1. Define your research question carefully. A poorly worded research question can result in poor understanding all around.
2. Choose and implement an appropriate Data Collection Method. Devise high quality questionnaires and ensure your interviewers are well trained.
3. Interviewees should be allowed sufficient time for adequate recall of long term memory.
4. Use a prospective study, which can eliminate reporter bias. However, be aware that bias can still seep into prospective studies under certain conditions, so you should be aware of how recall may be affecting your participants’ reporting.
5. Use blinding for researchers and patients. Researchers who are not blinded may reassign patients or act differently to patients, offering clues about what treatment they are receiving.
6. Patients who are aware of what treatment they are receiving are much more likely to cloud their opinions and memories about treatment benefits and results.
7. If using a case-control study, use nested case-control designs. With these designs, baseline data is collected as well as periodically.
8. If studying a disease or condition, choose participants with a new diagnosis if at all possible. Verify any information given with a reliable third party, medical record or other trustworthy source.
References:
1. Bradburn N, Rips L, Shevell S. Answering autobiographical questions: The impact of memory and inference on surveys. Science, New Series 1987; 236(4798):157-161.
2. Grimes D, Schulz K. Bias and causal association in observational research. Lancet 2002; 359: 248-252.
taking and cross examining data from other sources such as hospital recordsetc. can solve the recall bias
Ask subjects about their knowledge of the study hypothesis (at end of the interview), and analyze data accordingly
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