Interviewer Training and Instructions

Interviewer training for all surveys (including those that ask the WG questions) should deal with making the administration of the survey more inclusive, in terms of the importance of consistency when administering survey content, and the following best practices:

• All questions should be asked as they have been written;
• Checks should be in place to ensure all respondents answer each question. Assumptions should not be made by observation only. Interviewers who are unsure of someone’s response must ask the respondent to repeat it;
• Assumptions regarding the ability of a person to respond must be avoided, since some people who may appear to have communication or cognitive issues that prevent them from answering are, in fact, very capable;
• A proxy should only be used when necessary. Interviewers should be prepared for dealing with people who, for example, communicate by sign language;
• Interviewers should remain calm and respectful with respondents who have significant disabilities. Interviewers may find it useful to conduct practice interviews with people with disabilities beforehand.

It is not difficult to administer the WG-SS and, therefore, no specialist training on disability is required beyond sensitivity awareness training that should be provided for all data collections, and the admonition not to talk negatively about “disability.”