Methods of Data Collection From the General Population Which Relate to Alcohol, Tobacco and Illicit Drug Use: The Polish Experience (From Alcohol and Drugs: Research and Policy, P 7-16, 1990, Martin Plant, Cees Goos, et al., eds. -- See NCJ-129672)

• NCJ Number: 129673
• Author(s): J Jasinski
• Date Published: 1990
• Length: 10 pages
• Sale Source: University of Edinburgh Press
• Publication Type: Report (Technical)
• Language: English
• Country: United Kingdom

Annotation

This analysis of alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drug surveys in Poland focuses on sampling and other methodological issues.

Abstract

Surveys of alcohol consumption in Poland began in the 1960's. The first national survey of tobacco use took place in 1974. Surveying alcohol and tobacco use has now become routine. A number of sampling problems remain unresolved, particularly the issue of how properly to represent the heaviest drinkers. Forgetting and concealing are also common problems in survey research and appear to be less serious in surveys of tobacco use than in surveys of alcohol use. In surveying alcohol consumption, a focus on the last occasion of drinking can be useful in efforts to monitor general trends in drinking habits. More ambitious projects could usefully use detailed interviews that examine all drinking occasions over a given time period. Quota samples have little merit, except possibly in pilot studies, thus future Polish surveys should use random samples of the population. 27 references