Evaluating the Usability of Personal Digital Assistants to Collect Behavioral Data on Adolescents with Paradata

This article analyzes paradata, or data on survey processes, from the 2008 Albany Youth Health Survey to examine the ''usability'' of personal digital assistants (PDAs) in collecting health and behavioral information among inner-city adolescents. Two parallel sets of data analysis were conducted: one at a subject level and a second at a survey question/item level. Outcomes related to usability issues included difficulty with practice questions, time spent on the survey/item, responding before completion of the audio, and revisiting a question. Overall, participants had relatively few usability issues with the PDAs. At the subject level, participants with lower academic performance were more likely to have difficulty with practice questions, revisit a question, and take more time. The variable-level analysis showed that an increasing level of variable type complexity was negatively associated with a question being revisited and positively associated with completion time. This study suggests that PDAs and other types of handheld computers can be used to collect sensitive data among urban adolescents. Increased practice time to orient certain respondents on certain types of questions on PDA-administered surveys may increase the ability to collect valid and reliable data on sensitive topics.