The effects of retention intervals on self- and proxy reports of purchases

Abstract

Two studies explored underlying differences between self- and proxy reports and determining whether proxy reporters process and retrieve information the same way self-reporters do. In both studies, participants recorded their own and a target person's incidental purchases for two weeks and then returned, either immediately or one-week after the diary-keeping period, for two recall tests. These tests pertained to self- and proxy purchases. The reported items were scored against the recorded ones. In Study 1, the data indicate that proxies tend to recall more typical events than do self-reporters immediately following the diary-keeping period. However, after a delay of one week, both proxy and self-reporters tended to report typical items. These findings suggest that, at least initially, self- and proxy reporters process the information differently but that after one week they process it similarly. Study 2 employed a method that was identical to that of Study 1 except that participants were given a recognition test. The verbal protocols from the recognition test indicate that participants used different strategies to determine who made the purchase. Whereas participants focused on perceptual details surrounding the event when identifying their own purchases, proxies engaged in various strategies to identify their spouses' purchases.

Estimating Household Water Use: A Comparison of Diary, Prompted Recall, and Free Recall Methods

“…One potential problem with the data quality is that we used proxy reports (provided by the most knowledgeable household member) to reconstruct household water use. Past research indicates that proxy reports are more likely to reflect typical behavior patterns-and not actual memories-than selfreports (Dashen 2000). To determine how responses would have differed if I used proxy reports from a different household member, I ran an independent-samples t-test on a subsample of male and female adults who lived in the same household (n = 24).…”

Probing for Informal Work Activity

“…Situational knowledge includes details about specific events whereas dispositional knowledge is information that can be inferred about an individual based on her typical behavior. In a study of consumer expenditures, for example, respondents used a combination of situational and dispositional knowledge to report their own spending behavior but relied primarily on dispositional knowledge when reporting on behalf of their spouse (Dashen 2000). When individuals use dispositional knowledge to answer questions about employment, they may be less likely to report sporadic or casual work activity because it is not a 'usual' behavior (Sudman et al 1996;Schwarz and Wellens 1997).…”

Probing for Informal Work Activity

“…Situational knowledge includes details about specific events whereas dispositional knowledge is information that can be inferred about an individual based on her typical behavior. In a study of consumer expenditures, for example, respondents used a combination of situational and dispositional knowledge to report their own spending behavior but relied primarily on dispositional knowledge when reporting on behalf of their spouse (Dashen 2000). When individuals use dispositional knowledge to answer questions about employment, they may be less likely to report sporadic or casual work activity because it is not a 'usual' behavior (Sudman, Bradburn, and Schwarz 1996;Schwarz and Wellens 1997).…”