Cognitive Aspects of Survey Methodology (CASM)

Background and History

Following the cognitive revolution of the 1970s, in which cognition was applied to a wide range of behavioral domains, the CASM field developed as an approach to questionnaire design that emphasizes the vital importance of cognition in the survey response process. Although the origins of this interdisciplinary science are rooted in earlier work, CASM as an identifiable movement was initiated by two key events: (1) the 1983 Advanced Research Seminar on Cognitive Aspects of Survey Methodology in the United States, now referred to as CASM I, and (2) the 1984 Conference on Social Information Processing and Survey Methodology held at ZUMA in Germany.

One influential outcome of the CASM I conference was the introduction of the four-stage cognitive model by Roger Tourangeau. To a great extent, the CASM approach is predicated on the key assertion that in order for a respondent to provide an accurate answer to a survey question, that individual must successfully negotiate a series of mental processing steps:

• 1.
  Comprehension of the survey question in the manner intended by the designer
• 2.
  Recall or retrieval from memory of information necessary to answer the question correctly
• 3.
  Decision and estimation processes that are influenced by factors such as item sensitivity, social desirability, or the respondent's assessment of the likelihood that the retrieved information is correct
• 4.
  The response process, in which the respondent produces an answer to the question in the form desired by the data collector

Some authors have elaborated this basic cognitive model by introducing other processes or mental states, such as motivational level. Others have envisioned a more flexible processing chain, in which the order of cognitive processes, and whether each is operative in a given case, varies depending on the survey question, the particular respondent, and the environment in which data collection occurs (e.g. the physical and social context).

Applied and Basic CASM Research

The CASM orientation has generated a wide range of research, which Monroe Sirken and colleagues have categorized as falling within two fundamental areas: applied CASM research and basic CASM research. Applied CASM research is focused on a specific questionnaire and attempts to improve that instrument through the use of cognitive interviewing methods to identify defects in survey questions having a cognitive origin. Basic CASM research is more general in scope. Rather than focusing on a particular instrument, basic CASM studies are devoted to the use of experimental methods to identify consistent cognitive tendencies that impact survey responding. Basic cognitive research is therefore intended to be applicable across a range of surveys and to serve as a guide to initial question design, rather than as a tailored pretesting method. That is, as opposed to focusing on quality control concerning a particular instrument, basic CASM research strives to elucidate rules of questionnaire design that incorporate a cognitive focus and that are developed through the use of empirical experimentation.

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