Now, a simple device to get better info on teen sexual behaviour

Brown University sociologists have developed a low-cost, easy-to-use device that helps in obtaining reliable data about risky sexual behavior among teenagers and young adults

Now, a simple device to get better info on teen sexual behaviour

Brown University sociologists have developed a low-cost, easy-to-use device that helps in obtaining reliable data about risky sexual behavior among teenagers and young adults.

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This allows the respondents to communicate nonverbally and confidentially during face-to-face interviews.

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Their new nonverbal response card is an 8.5-by-11 inch laminated sheet of paper with a respondent side and an interviewer side.
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Each side is divided into 35 cells with a small hole punched through the center of each cell. On the respondent side of the card, the cells contain written and color-coded responses.
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The numeric responses, for questions such as the number of sexual partners or age at first sex, range from 0-25, marked with both a written number and vertical bars for tallying.
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The non-numeric responses (yes, no, and does not apply) are written in local languages and also color-coded with green, red, and blue. On the interviewer side of the card, each cell contains a unique survey-specific three-digit number.
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Respondents answer questions by poking a stick through the punched hole of the answer they wish to give. The interviewer records the code.
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The research team tested the card in a survey of 1,269 Ethiopian men and women aged 13 to 24.
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The researchers found that respondents were twice as likely to report having premarital sex when using a nonverbal response card.
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Virtually no respondents answering the questions verbally admitted to being at risk of acquiring HIV, compared to 3.8 percent of the respondents who used the card method.
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The researchers found that young people over-report knowledge of condoms when they give verbal responses: About half of the single respondents giving verbal responses reported knowing where to obtain a condom, compared to only 37 percent of the single respondents in the card group.
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The findings were published in the Studies in Family Planning.

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