On estimating the frequency of a target behavior from time-constrained yes/no survey questions: A parametric approach based on the Poisson process.

Abstract

We propose a novel method to analyze time-constrained yes/no questions about a target behavior (e.g., "Did you take sleeping pills during the last 12 months?"). A drawback of these questions is that the relative frequency of answering these questions with "yes" does not allow one to draw definite conclusions about the frequency of the target behavior (i.e., how often sleeping pills were taken) nor about the prevalence of trait carriers (i.e., percentage of people that take sleeping pills). Here we show how this information can be extracted from the results of such questions employing a prevalence curve and a Poisson model. The applicability of the method was evaluated with a survey on everyday behavior, which revealed plausible results and reasonable model fit.