**REPORT ON**

**COGNITIVE TESTING OF THE FORMATS OF WASHINGTON GROUP FOR PERSONS WITH
DISABILITIES**

**Title of the project:**

Cognitive testing of the formats of Washington group for persons with
disabilities

**Funding Agency:**

**Under contract OBMO 103920**

**Budget:Rs** 56,000/-

**Date of Commencement:** May 2006

**Purpose of the Project:**

> The main purpose of the study was to undertake cognitive validation of
> the formats of Washington Group for persons with disabilities so as to
> determine how the questions are understood by the respondents.

**Objective of the Project:**

> **1.** To obtain data on cognitive functioning for literate groups of
> persons with disabilities.

**2.** To obtain data on cognitive functioning for illiterate groups of
persons with disabilities.

**3.** To check for Test-Retest Reliability.

**Introduction:**

> Cognitive testing techniques are used in developing a wide variety of
> surveys by federal agencies and have come to be regarded as a standard
> in applying 'best practices' for questionnaire development. India is a
> country where the diversity are largely seen in terms of demographic
> variation, culture, language spoken and literacy also plays a key
> role. In order to ensure any tool reliable across the length of the
> country, it is important that the questions are understood and
> interpreted uniformly by the target population. In the context of
> persons with disabilities, it is extremely useful to pretest these on
> individuals who are representative of the population to be surveyed.

**Methodology:**

The project was carried out in the following stages:

**1.** **Translation of questionnaire to Marathi:**

> The English questionnaire provided had to be translated into the
> regional language, Marathi, to facilitate data collection in
> Maharashtra.
>
> The questionnaire was given to experts in the field of special
> education for translation into Marathi. Another expert rechecked the
> translated questionnaire.
>
> Reverse translation (of the questionnaires ) to English was carried
> out by yet another expert in the field of special education. The
> reverse translated questionnaire was compared with the original
> English questionnaire for accuracy. It was found to be almost similar.
> The finalized Marathi questionnaire was made in multiple copies for
> the purpose of data collection.

**2. Selection of Enumerators:**

> Four enumerators were selected to carry out data collection. They
> fulfilled the following selection criteria:
>
> a\. Bachelor\'s Degree in Special Education
>
> b\. Ability to speak, read and write Marathi.

**3. Training of Enumerators:**

> Guidelines were prepared for training the enumerators. A two-day
> intensive training was provided to the enumerators that included the
> following:
>
> -Orientation to the concept of Cognitive Testing.
>
> -Orientation to the rationale and objectives of Cognitive testing
>
> -Explanation of key terms and the items in the questionnaire
>
> -Highlighting the role of enumerators in administration of the
> questionnaire.
>
> **Mock interviews:**
>
> Mock interviews were arranged and video shooting was carried out.
> These was then played back to the enumerators and critically analyzed.
>
> **Inter tester Reliability:**
>
> Two experts in the field of special education were appointed as Judges
> to establish inter-tester reliability.

**4. Selection of samples:**

> For the data collection, samples were selected to include persons with
> different disabilities. Data was collected on different categories of
> persons including Hearing impaired, Visually impaired, Orthopaedically
> handicapped, Mentally Retarded and a few from the general population.
>
> To enlist the cooperation of various rehabilitation organizations,
> letters were drafted mentioning the objectives of the project and
> requesting for respondents with various disabilities.

**Sampling technique :**

> Purposive sampling on quota basis was employed.

**Sample size and Characterisics:**

> Self: 112 (56 Literate, 56 Illiterates)

Proxy: 112 (56 Literate, 56 Illiterates)

Mumbai City / Literate

  ----------- ---------- ----------- ---------- ----------- ---------- ----------- ---------- ----------- ------------- -----------
              **M.R.**               **V.I.**               **H.I.**               **O.H.**               **General**   

              **Self**   **Proxy**   **Self**   **Proxy**   **Self**   **Proxy**   **Self**   **Proxy**   **Self**      **Proxy**

  **Total**   **11**     **11**      **14**     **14**      **9**      **9**       **10**     **10**      **12**        **12**
  ----------- ---------- ----------- ---------- ----------- ---------- ----------- ---------- ----------- ------------- -----------

56

Badlapur village / Illiterate

  ----------- ---------- ----------- ---------- ----------- ---------- ----------- ---------- ----------- ------------- -----------
              **M.R.**               **V.I.**               **H.I.**               **O.H.**               **General**   

              **Self**   **Proxy**   **Self**   **Proxy**   **Self**   **Proxy**   **Self**   **Proxy**   **Self**      **Proxy**

  **Total**   **12**     **12**      **7**      **7**       **10**     **10**      **27**     **27**      **8**         **8**
  ----------- ---------- ----------- ---------- ----------- ---------- ----------- ---------- ----------- ------------- -----------

56

**5. Data collection:**

> The enumerators approached the identified organizations with their
> letters. They interviewed the disabled persons (Self) and carried out
> the interview of the Proxy either at the organization or at their
> residence after fixing appointments.
>
> In order to sample the illiterate population, the enumerators were
> sent to interior villages near Badlapur to carry out the task on the
> specified categories of disabled persons.
>
> In the last phase 5% of the two groups, literate and illiterate, were
> interviewed again for reliability checks.

**6. Data entry and Analysis:**

> The data was then entered and processed using the formats provided.